A Blade of Red Steel
by o.Love.Song.o
Summary: Inuyasha betrays Kagome, which results in her death and when she is reborn, he realizes his mistake. But it's too late as fate has already given Kagome her next surprise. A child with a man that after many trials, will still love her with all his heart.
1. Choice

Okay. I know it hasnt been a long time since ma other stories came out as well...but they werent doing as good as I thought, so ya. Heres the next story. There was a preview of it on my profile, but im gonna take it off now.

**NOTE!** This is an editied version of chapter one. it includes the old chapter one and 2 which i made some changes and then combined. Hope you guys like this version better as i plan to edit my story up a bit. **NOTE!**

**a HUGE thnx 2 Bankotsu'sAngel aka my editor**

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_Choice_

_When you said forever, you meant a few months. _

"Kagome! Kikyou! Don't you dare die on me!" screamed Inuyasha as he ran towards the two women he loved, both unconscious in Naraku's tentacles.

Of course, It wasn't a scream that went unnoticed, for the evil hanyou turned to face the raging hanyou who was running towards him. He smirked. " So Inuyasha. You've come at last."

"Bastard! Let Kagome and Kikyou go!" shouted Inuyasha, drawing his Tetsusiaga and pointing it at the evil hanyou. " Now!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I'm going to give you one chance Inuyasha. Once chance to save the woman you love most and regain what you lost."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" The fang wielding hayou was looking at the two mikos floating around in mid-air out of the corner of his eye, although he must say, it was a very distracting sight while trying to argue with Naraku.

"Simple. I'm going to throw both priestesses off the cliff at the same time, let them fall. Let's see if you'll stay loyal to the first woman you fell in love with, or let your desires for her reincarnation take over your actions."

Poor Inuyasha could only gape at his enemy's words; He was at a loss.

So perhaps it was lucky that Mirouk, the perverted monk came running up right then.

"Inuyasha! Kikyo!" Sango, last remaining taijiya of the hidden slayer's village also joined them shortly after, followed by Kirara and Shippo.

Upon seeing Kagome's friends coming and attempting to save her, Naraku was amused. His evil laughter rang out through the whole perimeter of the castle surroundings and echoed over and over again.

"Naraku!" yelled the demon slayer. "Let Kagome go!"

"Let her go?" asked Naraku. " Why certainly."

And that he did. To the people watching, everything was passing like a blur before their eyes. The evil hanyou lifted up the tentacle that held Kikyou and with one fluid motion, threw her off the left side of the cliff. As with Kagome, like Sango had demanded, he dropped her. Literally dropped her off the right side of the cliff.

Inuyasha stood, watching the scene before him with shock numbing every part of him. It was not until the monk yelled at him that he regained some consciousness in his brain and figured out what exactly he needed to do.

Save them.

Now.

But how? Kagome was falling rapidly off the right side of the cliff, and Kikyo was flying off the opposite side. Even with his demonic speed, it wouldn't be possible to reach and carry both of them to safety within the time that was left until they hit the bottom.

_Tick Tock_

Sango solved his problem that she had spotted as well. She drew level with him, perched on Kirara's back " Inuyasha! Get one of them and I'll get the other!" When she got no immediate response from him, she added in a furious shout "Hurry! Choose!"

Finally completely snapping out of it, Inuyasha nodded and jumped off the left side of the cliff, to Kikyou. The taijiya took this as her signal to go to the right.

But of course, nothing ever works as planned.

_Tick Tock_

"So you stay loyal to your first love. How very…_touching_" mocked Naraku. "And how unfourtunate that you can not change your mind now."

With one flick of the evil hanyou's wrist, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo were paralyzed in mid motion. The only thing left that they could do was watch on in horror as Naraku reached out and grabbed Kagome instead.

There was _nothing_ they could do.

_Tick Tock_

At that moment, Inuyasha landed back on solid ground, an unconscious Kikyou in his arms. "Kagome?" he shouted upon seeing where she was "Kagome!"

"Watch the show, little puppy" smiled Naraku.

Right on the cue after he said that, Kagome regained consciousness. "Inu..Inuyasha?.." she moaned. Her head was killing her.

"Miko. Inuyasha has chosen Kikyou over you at a critical moment and as you don't believe me, just take a nice long look at them now for confirmation. He dosen't love you. He dosen't care for you at all." Said Naraku in her ear. "Now with that knowledge, despair, and die."

If you asked the Inu Tachi later on about what had happened then, none of them could have told you, save Inuyasha. All they knew was that the moment after Naraku stopped talking, Kagome was on the ground, a huge hole through her stomach.

There was no other alternative. The wound was way too big. She was going to die.

And all the time, Inuyasha had not made a single move yet to save her.

_The hands of time had stopped ticking._

Her chest rose, then fell. "Inuyasha…Even if you saved Kikyou over me…I…still…love you….Want you…happy...not with me…good…luck." Her voice was barely audiable.

Her chest rose. Her chest fell.

She closed her eyes, but there was a pain different from the rest that was burning in her heart.

"Inuyasha." She sighed.

Her chest didn't rise again.

Kagome was gone.

Inuyasha had heard her last words clearly. Why hadn't he chosen to save her? Why did he instinctively go to the left and save Kikyou? Kikyou wasn't even alive anymore, like Kagome was. She even had a family in another time that she had been neglecting all this time to focus her attention on helping him.

But then again, he had wanted to save Kikyou.

He had wanted her to be alive.

And if he could think that at a critical moment, he could not have regrets about it now.

He lowered his eyes and turned away from Kagome's wounded, still body. "I chose to save Kikyou, Kagome. But I don't regret it."

_When I said forever, I meant every day until I died. _

Five days had passed since the fateful night at Naraku's castle.

They had buried Kagome beneath the soft soil at the spot that she had died, while professing her love one last time. Miroku had built a small shrine on of her grave which held nothing but a simple poem: _Peacefully sleeping, resting at last, The world's weary troubles and trails are past, In silence she suffered, in patience she bore, Till God called her home to suffer no more._

Of course, the big yellow backpack was one of the only things left to remember her by, so they had taken it along with them. Everyone who opened the bag and looked at her belongings where she had last placed them, cried. They all missed Kagome. Even Inuyasha who would never have admitted it out loud missed her.

But now, however, the Inu Tachi were walking on in silence, back to Kaede's village. Inuyasha and Kikyou in the front, Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo in the back, glaring at the couple.

It was one of those deafening silences, one that dared you to break it. One filled with tension. Finally, it was Kikyou, the girl everyone loved to hate defied them and cut the silence out of the air. " I sense five jewel shards coming towards us right now.." she said quietly in her cold, uncaring voice.

Inuyasha, of course, at hearing that drew his Tetsusaiga and pushed Kikyou behind him. She stumbled and fell over, but none of the others reached out to help her and she fell to the ground.

"Why didn't any of you catch her?" yelled a not very happy Inuyasha without turning around.

"Sorry, I was busy. Couldn't be helped. But Kikyou-sama is a strong woman. She can take .Right Inuyasha?" Inuyasha said nothing but from behind you could see his ears droop ever so slightly.

"My apologies. I was merely concentrating on the attackers."

"My toy snake got tangled up and I had to take the knots out of it so I can help you guys fight."

Kirara meowed while scratching her ear, proving that she had an itch there and was too busy to catch Kikyo.

Inuyasha growled. It looked like none of his group liked Kikyou. Oh well, doesn't matter. As long as he has her, nothing else matters.

Kikyo was all he needed. Forever.

_When you said always, you meant until you couldn't handle it anymore. _

Bankotsu, leader of the Shichinintai, was sitting on Ginkotsu's tank along with the rest of his band that hadn't been killed yet; Suikotsu, Renkotsu and Jakotsu. His long braid was swaying a bit in the breeze and his eyes were relaxed and closed.

He was thinking, thinking about a girl he once saw.

She had black ebony hair that flowed down to her mid-back and big brown chocolate eyes that were filled with emotions. Full rosy lips sat plump on her face and happiness just seemed to come from within her. What was wrong with him? How could he feel happiness just _come_ from a person?

But according to Naraku, she had just died.

Even though he knew he should be really happy that she was gone, after all, their groups were enemies. But then why did he feel somewhat sad? Was it because he wasn't the one to take her pretty life?

Completely contradicting that, a little voice in his heart told him that he wouldn't want to anyways.

He had only seen her a few times, once when Inuyasha broke into the castle that they had just attacked, once on Hijiri Island, and once more on Mount Hakurei.

So then why did he suddenly feel so sad when he found out she had been killed?

Why would he not want to kill her?

There are plenty good looking women out there, not just her. But he could kill those without a second of hesitation though...what made this girl so different?

Was it because she was so different from all the other women?

He sighed. No, that wasn't it. He didn't miss her...Or did he?

Was it because she could see the jewel shards? Did he feel sorrow because her powers, along with her were gone? Is that it?

He sighed again. Yes. That was the reason.

Forcing his mind to believe that, he closed his eyes and leaned back on Ginkotsu's side, completely brushing that topic away from his mind.

_When I said always, I meant until time ended. _

"It comes." Kikyou's cool voice announced to everyone as she herself readied her bow.

Not 2 seconds after her announcement, true to her word, they came. But it was not what they expected for they expected a demon of some sort to come to them, but it wasn't. Fortunately, their attackers looked just as shocked at seeing the Inu Tachi.

"You! You bastards are the Shichinintai!" yelled Inuyasha lifting a clawed finger and pointing it towards the tank that had stopped a few meters away from them.

"Glad you remember. And you're Inuyasha right?" said Bankotsu lazily opening one eye, still leaning against his comrade's side.

"Then prepare to die! A chance to kill all the Shichinintai in one day! This chance won't come again!" said Inuyasha and then almost instantly, jumped at Bankotsu, who in turn jumped off Ginkotsu while throwing off his halberd's mauve cover and blocking the hanyou with his Banryuu.

The others shrugged. Might as well do what their 'leaders' were doing right?

Miroku ran forwards without another thought to attack Bankotsu alongside Inuyasha, but was stopped by a pillar of orange flames. "Renkotsu!" he shouted as the flames cleared away to reveal the pyromaniac of the Shichinintai standing in front of him. "Inuyasha!"

"Concentrate on who you're fighting with Monk." Snapped Renkotsu as he took his canon out.

Sango with Kirara at her side, also ran forward, but was stopped by Ginkotsu shooting a missal at Kirara and Jakotsu's trick sword flying towards Sango. The fire cat jumped out of the way, then ran to attack the metal tank, while the taijiya blocked the blades with her Hiraikotsu, then drew her own sword to attack.

The only people left without opponents were Suikotsu in his maniac form and Kikyou, standing there glaring at each other with dislike.

"Kikyou" snarled the once doctor, walking forwards with his claws hanging casually by his side. Said priestess drew her bow and aimed it at his jewel shard.

Suikotsu let out a laugh. " I know you can see the jewel shards, but do you really think I'm going to let you take them Kikyou-_sama_?"

Her brows narrowed and her hand pulled her bowstring even further back.

Poor little Shippo was scared out of his mind. The moment he saw the 2 groups clash, he ran behind a nearby tree and hid there to watch the 10 people in front of him fight. Only one phrase was echoing in his head the whole time. _This isn't fair! I'm just a kid!_

There was a lot of blood shed within the next critical fifteen minutes and soon, the ground was covered in specks of blood and there were a few soul collectors flying around in the air. The little kitsune groaned. This was not going well. His comrades were injured and they all looked exhausted, except for Inuyasha. The shichinintai were also injured, but unlike the Inu Tachi, they didn't look at all tired.

_Rustle_

It was such a small sound, the rustling of grass, but it was enough to scare Shippo even more out of his wits. It came from directly behind him and for all he knew, it could be anything. _It..It could be a demon.. Or worse, a demon with piles of jewel shard! Or even..or even one of the shichinintai that were brought back for the 2nd time! _

_Rustle_

A mental image of a walking skeleton Mukotsu popped into his mind. _Oh ew gross! Oh help! Inuyasha! I wish Kagome was here!_

_Rustle_

Closing his eyes and summoning all his courage, Shippo turned around, only to be met with the shock of his life. Standing there in front of him, dressed in a simple white robe was-

"Kagome?...Kagome!" the little kitsune said uncertainly at first, but then realizing she was real, he shouted and launched himself into her arms.

"Shippo!" exclaimed Kagome.

"Aw Kagome! I missed you so much! Inuyasha was being a meanie and hitting me all the time and he and Kikyou were-" but then Shippo broke off, realizing that he had just mentioned the undead priestess, who the hanyou had chosen over her.

Then his eyes widened a little. "But-But…weren't you…dead?" he spluttered.

"Hm..good question Shippo. I thought I was too, since I was in a dark place and there was no light. Then all of a sudden, I heard a voice and opened my eyes and I was alive again, but when I looked closely, there wasn't anyone there." Said Kagome, answering his question, then posing one of her own to counter his. "You know Shippo, these are dangerous times. I _am _Kagome, but shouldn't you make sure that I'm really me before trusting me?"

The kitsune looked at his adopted mother for a second, then lowered his eyes with slight shame burning in them. "Hai. I should have." He said quietly.

"Yes you should. But now, let's forget about that and stop big meanie Inuyasha from fighting!" said Kagome with a smile for she had seen them fighting, to which Shippo enthusiastically agreed.

But he couldn't help but notice a shining circle in her lower back, where the hole in her stomach had been the last time he saw her.

None of the fighters took any notice of them as they came out from the trees. No one took any notice of them at any sound they made, for it would always be overpowered by the sound of clashing metal, groans, and shouts.

It was not until Kagome shifted Shippo to her shoulder from his place in her arms and notched an arrow that anyone noticed them. The aura that she radiated was even greater than the one she had before she died, even greater than the one that Kikyou emitted.

She glowed.

She glowed _red_.

_When you said you loved me, you meant I was no different from any other girl. _

Bankotsu stared.

So it was her. And she was glowing a brilliant shade of red. This was the girl that he had been thinking so much of.

And here he goes thinking about her again.

He was so fustrated. He couldn't understand why he kept on thinking about her. He couldn't figure out what made this woman so special to him, and forcing himself to believe that it was her powers hadn't worked out as well as he thought it woul.

The teenaged leader growled silently. Stupid woman. Distracting him all the time. Making him think about her all the time, even when he was in battle. But it was during the battles that her face had an odd effect on him. Her face would suddenly pop up in his mind's eye and he would feel a surge of emotion wash through him.

Was it a need to protect?

Want?

Desire?

_Dang it!_ He mentally shouted at himself. _Pay attention to the battle instead of the girl you damn it!_

But even yelling at himself didn't work. He noticed everything about her, every curve, every detail.

He might have been good at noticing Kagome, but he was pretty terrible at noticing that the other shichinintai were all staring at him, their leader, waiting for his command to retreat or to attack again.

But Bankotsu didn't give any; he was just looking at the woman in front of them with a slightly opened mouth, his Banryuu pointed downwards limply by his side.

_When I said I loved you, I meant I had never felt what I felt for you._

"Ka-Kagome?…What is this? Wha-What the fuck?" swore Inuyasha staring at her. "Aren't you…dead?"

"If Kikyou can come back from the grave, then why can't I, Inuyasha?" she asked simply. "And nice to see you again to you too. Oh and you guys, Miroku, Sango, Kirara."

Miroku stared. He certainly believed that this was truly Kagome, and not a demon puppet impersonating her. Only their Kagome would be able to die and come back, and still be that happy and cheerful. Speaking of cheerful…dose she remember everything that happened to her? The monk had to know.

"Er…Kagome-sama? Do you…still remember everything from before you died?"

"Of course Miroku."

"And you remember what happened er..the..um…moment..or so before you died?"

"Yes. I remember. Even though I died, I still remember why I died and how Inuyasha chose Kikyou over me. And even though I was brought back, I still feel. I still hurt. And…I still love." Her voice faded out in the end as she lowered her eyes slightly.

"Oi! Are you blaming me for saving Kikyou!" shouted Inuyasha waving his fist in the air.

"It wasn't meant to be an accusation Inuyasha."

Off on the sidelines, Bankotsu's eye twitched. So that's why the girl died: because Inuyasha had chosed the dead priestess over her. And if that hayou could do that, then he didn't deserve to have such a beautiful and powerful girl with him.

"So..that's how she died…" the shichinintai leader said in his usual laid back voice, making Inuyasha and Kagome jump. They had totally forgotten that the shichinintai were still there and hearing every word that was being said.

"And you give a rat's ass about how she died because?-" snarled Inuyasha, showing his fangs and pivoting so that him and Tetsusiaga faced Bankotsu instead.

"Believe it or not, I actually don't. But I've decided that-" the black haired teen jumped and grabbed Kagome around the waist while Suikotsu took the hint and grabbed her backpack without anyone noticing. "I have to take her away because a hanyou like you dosen't deserve such a useful girl."

Kagome stared at him. True, she was extremely mad at Inuyasha for doing what he did, but what was she thinking right then, going off in an enemy's arms without a fight? She didn't think Bankotsu was gonna treat her any nicer than Inuyasha, but there was something in her gut that was telling her to let the shichinintai leader take her away.

"Kagome! Purify his ass or something! Don't just stand there and let yourself be taken!" screamed Inuyasha as he ran towards the pair of them.

The miko turned to look at the hanyou, but Bankotsu threw her onto Ginkotsu. She tried to jump off, and was nicely stopped by a strong pair of hands on her shoulders.

It was Renkotsu.

"Throw your energy at him. Now!" he hissed in her ear.

"What? Why?"

"Throw it. I know your gut feeling Kagome. I know you say you love him, but deep underneath, you hate him for choosing Kikyou over you. Now throw it!"

She desperately wanted to deny it, what the pyromaniac shichinintai said. But something in her brain was telling her to do otherwise. She closed her eyes and tried to block out Renkotsu's voice, which was still telling her to do it.

_…You hate him for choosing Kikyou over you…_ his words echoed through her head. _…You hate him for choosing Kikyou over you…._

Kagome suddenly heard the sound of someone drinking above her, and above the voice still bouncing around in her head. Looking up, she saw it was Renkotsu, sipping whatever was in his gourd.

"Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha "Do it!"

No sooner had those words left his mouth, before Kagome had a chance to answer, flames rose in between them, presenting a solid wall of fire and blocking their vision from each other.

"Kagome!" she heard him shout._…You hate him for choosing Kikyou over you…._

She made up her mind.

Through the fire and flames, a burst of red light pierced through and hit the hanyou, throwing him backwards. He screamed in pain. On the other side, even though she was the one to do it, she cried.

"Let's go!" hissed Bankotsu. He jumped onto his tank comrade and took Kagome into his arms.

"See ya later Inuyasha my little puppy!: shouted Jakotsu as he leaped onto Ginkotsu along with Suikotsu and the backpack.

"No wait! You bastards come back here!" screamed Inuyasha, looking at the wall of fire.

But the only answer he got was Bankotsu's voice. "Until next time then, Inuyasha."

The hanyou slowly got up.

The flames slowly died away.

The shichinintai were gone, and with them, so was Kagome.

Wait.

Why couldn't he smell their scent anymore? They were just here a second ago! I couldn't have faded away that fast! Inuyasha looked down. His claws were….gone…In their place was now..nails. Human nails.

"What the hell?" He checked himself out. He couldn't possibly be human now! It wasn't even his time of the month!

Balck hair. Check

Clawless. Check

Human sense of smell. Check

His eyes widened in realization. He was a…_human._

That girl had purified his demon.

"Kagome!"

Okay. And theres your 1st chappie of the story. Hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you think . aka REVIEW PLZ!. If i get enough reviews to keep me happy, then ill put up the next chappie for which the preview is rittteeee hereeee:

NEXT CHAPPIE: In the next chappie, we see Kagome and the shichinintai and how she dosen't really like the fact that they kill. And Jakotsu, being Jakotsu and hating women, got her pissed off enough to send her storming off into the forest, only to get herself into trouble...Who will come save her now that Inuyasha is gone?


	2. Captive

HEY! Im back with the next chappie here. Now that wasn't such a long wait now was it? . I've really got nothing to say up here right now except to thank everyone who left a review, added this story to alerts list or favourited it.

And I also need to thank my lovely editor InfintieAffinity. .

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_Captive_

_Flatter me, and I may not believe you_

Kagome was sitting on Ginkotsu in dead silence. Renkotsu stood behind her, Bankotsu was leaning against the side of the tank just in front of her. It would just be foolish to attempt escape. She knew her powers had increased, but not to the point where she could take on the Shichinintai, especially not with the leader and the second in command beside her.

Renkotsu stared at the girl in front of him. Hell she was hot, but also, she looked quite powerful. Able to purify practically anything, and not to mention sense jewel shards. She would be more useful than all the other woman anyways who can do practically nothing and were only good for them to lay with. But back to that girl,...Able to purify anything huh? A thought suddenly came to his head. If she could purify anything, than maybe, just maybe...she could purify the demonic Banryuu?

Bankotsu sighed and opened one eye to look down upon the girl he had been thinking about so often. That girl. The one that keeps popping up in his mind's eye.

Unfourtunatly for the young leader, Jakotsu noticed him looking at the miko. His usually cheerful face turned into a frown. Stupid wench taking over their leader. "Hey Bankotsu no o aniki?"

The teenaged leader snapped out of it. "Huh- what?"

"Why do you keep opening your eye to stare at the wench and then sighing? Do you find her attractive?"

Bankotsu and Kagome's faces both turned red, though her face wasn't as bright.

_"He noticed? Its that obvious?"_

_"What? He's staring at me? Why?"_

"What the hell are you talking about?" she screamed, thus talking for the first time since they left the Inu-Tachi.

"Well...what if i do?" the young leader said looking straight down at her. She felt her face heat up.

"W-what?..." she said faintly. Those eyes were making her feel nervous for some reason and start to squrim inside.

"Attractive? Gah. If it were up to me, then you would have stayed dead, you filthy wench." muttered Jakostu.

But unfourtunatly for the slasher, Kagome heard him and broke her eye connection with Bankostu as she shouted. "It's Kagome and if it were up to me then _you_ would have stayed dead as well!"

"How dare you speak to me with such little respect!" the undead gay guy shouted back at the undead miko.

"Wow. I just did!"

"Wench!"

"Gay cross dresser!"

"Bitch! Come here right now! I'm gonna-"

"Shut up and look both of you. A village." said Suikotsu inturrupting the two's argument while pointing a finger off into the distance. Kagome and Jakotsu looked up and true to the doctor's word, saw a village, shillouetted against the sunset.

"Alright! Let's have some fun! Bankotsu no o aniki?" the 'gay cross dresser' said looking happy and excited all of a sudden, a contrast to his mad face from before, his hand making its way to his precious Jakotsutou.

"Define have some fun?..." Kagome asked quietly to no one in particular.

Renkotsu heard her and laughed. "Have some fun in Jakostu's words, otherwise known as attack the village to put it simply."

"A-attack the village? But-but why?"

"Iunno. 'Cause its fun?"

Kagome had nothing to say that, except gape at the bald flame user with wide eyes and an opened mouth. Just great. Her first life had been bad enough already. How much worse could her second life get, now that she was stuck with a bunch of dead men?

Not that she wasn't dead herself.

__

_Criticize me, and I may not like you_

Nothing. Nothing that she had seen and done with the Inu-Tachi could've prepared her for this. When they had arrived at the edge of the village, she had been swept up by Bankotsu and brought with him, Jakotsu and Suikotsu to attack the village ahead of the others.

The pain of the people. Their pleading cries as the Shichinintai members slashed, cut, slaughtered them was unbearable. She just wanted to run from there and hide from the reality of it all. The reality of what they truly did to people.

So many innocent lives were lost. Blood stained the once brown soil, turning it into a dark shade of red.

Every time a flash of metal cut through the air, and life's red blood poured out, it was a sign that another life had been taken.

It was worst, when it was over and she saw the bodies of the once living lying around, waiting to be burnt into ashes and incinerated.

She felt tears falling down her cheeks, and nausea rising within her stomach at the sight of what became of a once happy village because they had wanted to have some entertainment.

At one point, she thought she heard a voice call out to her, asking if she was alright and if there were any shards in the village.

She found she couldn't answer and with a last look at the deformed corspes and the pools of blood, taking in a last smell of the scent of decay, she fainted. Darkness surrounded her mind, as strong warm arms surrounded her body.

__

_Ignore me and I may not forgive you_

Kagome slowly opened her eyes. A fuzzy image of a man greeted her. Blinking once, blinking twice, she saw it was Suikotsu in his good doctor form, leaning over her holding a bowl of something that smelled really good. It reminded her of spring flowers and mint.

"Kagome-san, are you feeling better?" said the doctor with a smile, offering his hand to help her up.

She gratefully took his hand and pulled herself up into a sitting position. She saw that they were in a cave of some sort and other than Suikotsu, only Jakotsu was there. The others were nowhere to be seen. She also noticed that she had been dressed back in her modern clothes by the shichinintai and was actually very amazed they managed to get it on her right.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

"What happened? Well let me tell you. You fainted and Bankotsu no o aniki caught you and said we had to keep a stupid wench like you. Not to mention care for as well." growled Jakotsu. " Should've just left you there with all the other dead people. Not like it would have mattered to any of us anyways."

"Jakotsu, that's enough and Kagome, drink this medicine and then get some rest. It would've mattered to me if you died. And everyone else as well." said Suikotsu inturrupting a Kagome who had her mouth slightly opened for a retort. She shut it and nodded, but not without sticking her tongue out at the slasher first.

"Oi wench! I'm gonna cut that tongue of yours out right now!" he shouted as his hand flew to his Jakotsutou.

At that moment, Bankotsu chose to walk in the mouth of the cave. "Hey. We're not keeping her to harm her Jakotsu. We're keeping her cause we need her. And alive." The young leader then plopped himself down and reached for his favourite drink. Sake.

Ginkotsu and Renkotsu followed him in. Good. That girl was up. Maybe he could put his plan to action now and start earning her trust and friendship and persuade her to work with him against Bankostu. Yes that would be a good idea. "Kagome. How are you feeling?" he asked in the best caring voice he could fake.

Her eyebrows flew up and disappeared behind her bangs. "I never thought you were the kind to care, Renkotsu."

"Well I do care now. And I care about you. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Well..no...but.."

"You know Kagome, you're quite pretty..."

Both Kagome and Bankostu had a huge reaction to that simple little comment. Kagome blushed when she realized that Renkotsu was flirting with her and looked away, deeper into the cave. Bankotsu choked on his sake, jumped up and balled his hand into a fist while yelling out "Oi! Quit making moves on her Renkotsu!"

All eyes turned to him as everyone stared at him with a funny look on their face. Kagome's face turned even redder than before and only then, did Bankostu realize what he had accidently blurted out.

"I-I mean...she's here to work for us..and nothing more!"

Suikotsu rolled his eyes and shook his head. _What an idiot,_ he thought.

Kagome lifted her head. Work for us. That phrase, or any variation of it was the one she hated the most. Work for us. Find shards for us. Need your powers. Was she good enough for anything else? The shichinintai certainly didnt think so; they're only keeping her alive to find the shards. And Inuyasha certainly didn't either; He had chosen Kikyo over her and had made it quite clear.

She sighed, fighting the tears behind her chocolate brown eyes that were currently threatening to fall. Of course he did, Kikyo was his first love. So womanly, so proper, and so powerful. And Kagome? A weak little school girl that always needed saving. Of course he chose her over Kagome.

She couldn't help it anymore. A single tear fell down her eyes and flowed down her cheek. None of the Shichinintai noticed it due to the fact that they were currently discussing..no scratch that, arguing over what their next course of action would be. And of course she was included. Every two seconds, her name would be mentioned, in connection to the shards of course.

Two more tears fell out. Just thinking of Inuyasha was painful. She forced her heart to believe that she hated him, but underneath, she still loved him, or so she thought.

Right when the tears fell, Bankostu chose to look her way. It's not like she wanted a bastard like him to see her crying, but when he saw the tears, he stared for a moment, then got up and then walked over and knelt down beside her.

"You alright Kagome?"

She, to say the least was surprised, but the miko said nothing, only nodded while choking back a few tears.

"Are you sure?"

She shook her head.

"You wanna go talk about it?"

Again, she shook her head, signaling a no.

"Stupid wench. Crying all over the place, should've just left you for the dead." grumbled Jakotsu under his breath, but unfortunatly for the gay guy, Bankostu heard him.

"Jakotsu. We should _not _have left her for the dead because we _need_ her and her abilities."

"Abilities? What ablilties? That wench probably has no skill in anything so why her? Why not my sexy little koinu? Or that handsome houshi that travels with him?"

Bankostu shook his head. What was the point of trying to tell him again? It was obviously not going to go into that thick skull of his.

"Whatever. Suikotsu, Jakotsu, go look for some food. Renkotsu, Ginkotsu, go and see if you can find the Inu-Tachi. We need to kill them as soon as possible to gain another jewel shard from Naraku." said the leader after a while.

"No! I wanna go find cutie Inuyasha!" whined Jakotsu to everyones total surprise...

Shaking their heads, the rest of the Shichinintai got up to do their assigned tasks. Jakotsu too after a while, reluctantly got up and walked out, but not without a tongue stuck out of slasher's mouth at the modern miko.

_Encourage me and I will not forget you_

"Jakotsu..You should be nicer to Kagome-san." said Suikotsu after a short walk of silence. The two of them were in the forests trying to find anything edible, but so far, they didnt have much luck.

"Why should I? She's just a bitch that o aniki's making us keep."

"Look. I know for a fact that she is a very nice girl and if you give her the chance, she would be a very good friend to you."

Jakostu snorted in disbelif. "As if anyone would befriend us. And seeing we've been betrayed once, we don't need to be betrayed again."

"Yes. That's true, but, Kagome-san wouldn't betray our friendship. At least I don't think."

"At least you don't think! I'm not putting my second life on the line just to befriend a woman! Do you not remember that we captured her from her friends and are now holding her captive and you say she would not only become out friends but not betray us? No way in hell!"

Suikotsu sighed. "Just think it over Jakotsu."

The slasher hmphed and walked faster ahead of the split personalty doctor, while swearing to himself that the day he would give Kagome a chance to be his friend is the day he leaves the Shichinintai. In other words, never.

_Love me and I may be forced to love you_

"Kagome. Are you sure you're alright?" asked a slightly concerned Bankostu while at the same time trying to mask his worry.

"-Yeah..."

"Okay good. If you ever need someone to talk to,I'm here."

"Bankotsu...thank you."

"Hey it's alright. And...I meant what I said."

"What?"

"About me finding you attractive."

Kagome lifted her head and gaped at the Shichinintai leader with an open mouth. A slight redness was coming to her cheeks. He stared back at her, taking in her beauty.

He leaned in slightly closer to her face and said in a lower voice "You know, Kagome I-"

"You what?" she breathed back

Bankotsu leaned in even closer, so close that he could almost count the droplets on tears that still clung to her cheeks. He could see her slightly parted lips and her big eyes looking back at him and decided that no matter the outcome, he was going to kiss her.

Closing his eyes while puckering his lips, he slowly leaned in all the way down and was a hair's width away from her lips when..

"Um...I'm not inturrupting anything am I?" said a voice causing the two of them to quickly turn and face the direction the voice was coming from. The modern day miko's face flushed a bright red and the older teen scowled.

"What the hell do you want Renkotsu?" snapped an annoyed Bankotsu glaring at the fire user that had just walked in while slowly moving back away from Kagome.

He sat down facing away from Kagome and said "Nothing."

A moments of silence fell, which Renkotsu chose to break."Kagome. Come take a walk with me. I want to talk to you." _To build up her trust in me...now is a good time to do that..._

"What? No way in hell! And...What are you planning Renkotsu..." said his slightly suspicious leader.

"What? I'm not planning anything. I just want to talk to Kagome."

"Ya right...Probably telling her she looks hot again or complimenting her too short kimono." groaned Bankotsu.

"Can't Renkotsu take me out for a walk without any comments?" said Kagome quietly. But the two guys heard her.

"What! You actually want to go out and walk with him Kagome?" said Bankotsu with his eyes slightly wider than normal.

"Well...ya...better than sitting around in a cave doing nothing all day..."

"But we weren't doing nothing!"

"_What?_" screamed another voice from the entrance of the cave which Kagome instantly reconized. Jakotsu.

"So you two weren't doing nothing which means you were doing something!" he yelled drawing his Jakotsutou and pointing the tip at Kagome's neck. "Confess!"

"For one we_ were _doing nothing and as a second comment to that thick skull of yours, my life line is _not _in my neck like your guys' are!"

And once again, those two were off, arguing for the second time of the day.

_Might as well start keeping count._ Thought Bankotsu as he gave a slight smile watching the two argue. It was quite amusing. Jakotsu getting beaten in a shouting match by a woman and both of their faces getting redder from anger by the second. In the end, it was Kagome that stopped the match.

"At least I'm _normal_ like other people who like the opposite sex instead of being _weird_ and liking the same sex you _gay cross dresser _!" and with that last comment, she jumped up and stomped out of the cave.

A nice silence followed, where everyone was all amazed that Jakotsu had not killed the girl during the fight to add to that he didn't follow her out. He just plopped down onto the cave floor, glaring at the fire as if Kagome's face was in there.

"I think I'll go see if she's okay." said Renkotsu after a while breaking that silence. Bankotsu looked up at him.

"Why you?"

"Why do you care?"

Silence fell in the little cave again.

"Well..I guess we should check if she's alright?" said Bankotsu slowly, secretly worrying about the younger miko.

"Phst. _I'm_ not checking. You guys can go but I'm staying _right _here." said Jakotsu.

"Well then, for that comment, you can go."

"What? Why do I have to? But Bankotsu no o aniki!" the slasher whined, pushing his lip out for more effect.

But it didn't work. "No. Go. And she's gotta come back in once piece."

Very very reluctantly, Jakotsu got up and slowly dragged himself out to the mouth of the cave. Mumblings of "Stupid wench." or " Bitch. I'll make her pay for this." were heard until the slasher disappeared out of sight.

_Flatter me, and I may not believe you_

Inuyasha screamed in fustration. He had been turned into a mere ningen with no telling when he would be back to hanyou, he had lost a chance to defeat Bankotsu, and he had seen the woman he betrayed come back to life.

Kagome. Her face popped up suddenly into his mind. Why though? He had Kikyo. He didn't need Kagome...

He sighed. Maybe...maybe at the bottom of his heart, he was slowly starting to regret his choice. With Kagome, there was so much laughter and happiness. With Kikyo, all of that was gone. She would never crack a smile, never have that happy personality around her...

Inuyasha didn't want to admit it, but really, he missed Kagome at that moment.

_Criticize me, and I may not like you_

Kagome slowly walked through the woods, yelling to no one in particular to calm herself down. Stupid Jakotsu, stupid Shichinintai. Stupid everything! Geeze, how did she get herself into this mess anyways.. She regret listening to Renkotsu at the battle. If she had refused, she would probably be dead, but oh well she was dead anyways.

But at her time of desperate measures, she had chosen to listen to him. But why? Why would she choose a bunch of killers over her own friends, albeit one of them that betrayed her for clay and dirt.

She sighed, so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice she had walked into an area where there was an unusually thick layer of leaves on the ground. Had she been paying attention, she would have instantly been suspicious, but she wasn't.

Not two steps later, she felt her foot hit nothing and felt herself falling into a deep hole.

"Aw great!" she screamed in despair and kicked the earthen walls. But that did nothing, except make a little dent and creating a little sand waterfall.

Grabbing the vines that grew on the walls of the ditch, she pulled herself up and started to climb back out while silently congragulating herself on her quick thinking. That joy was short lived, however for not two seconds later, she felt a sharp thick thing being stuck into her back.

She screamed and turned around.

There was nothing there.

But she could've sworn she felt the prick. Looking back into the hole's ground, she saw a thick torn like thing there.

She suddenly felt so tired. "Aw...crap...must be poisonus..." she moaned as she felt her tongue getting slowly thicker and thicker, making it difficult to talk.

Two more step ups later, she was straining.

"Only a little further. You can make it."

When at long last, the glorious moment of when her hand hit the forest floor, she realized she didn't have the energy to pull herself out.

So she hung there, wondering what to do.

A presence of one...no wait two jewel shards were quickly approaching her hanging body. One was close..Very close..

Summoning the energy to lift her head up and look above her, she saw the shadow of a demon, followed by a twinkle of a tainted sacred jewel shard. She was screwed. And she knew it.

She could do nothing.

But not one second later, a loud scream was heard of

"Oi wench! Move out of the way!"

Looking once again through the crack of her half opened eye, she could not believing who her saviour was, then darkness surrounded her for the second time that day and she fell.

TADA! haha there you go. He was THIS close to kissing her but Renkotsu just had to walk in and inturrupt. haha. Now as always, te preview:

NEXT CHAPPIE: Kagome dosen't believe who her saviour is and even more so, that she's stuck with him. The two of them have a nice talk and realize that they might not be as different as they thought they were.

BUT to get this chappie, you guys have to REVIEW. .


	3. Imouto

Hey guys. Thnx 4 all the reviews that I got 4 the last chappie and im sorry for not updating sooner. I wuz away..

Okay. Rant is over. Let's continue on with the story.

Oh and by the way as Im saying it for the rest of the story to save myself from typing it over and over again, I DONT OWN INUYASHA.

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_Imouto_

_To understand everything is to forgive everything_

_"Oi wench! Move out of the way!" _

_She looked up, not daring to believe who her saviour was, then darkness surrounded her for the second time that day and she fell. _

Darkness, and a voice. The two things Kagome sensed when she regained consciousness.

"How long do wenches take to wake up?... What a waste of my time. Seriously. I could be doing something so much better with this time right now..."

Her eyes cranked opened slowly, and saw Jakotsu with an annoyed look on his face and chewing on his perfectly manicured nails with his lipsticked lips pulled back to reveal his teeth.

"Oh good. Finally awake."

She sighed and felt a sharp pain on her back. With that pain, the memory of what happened came back to her. Falling into a hole, getting pierced by something, and then falling again through darkness as she saw Jakotsutou flying through the air.

Her brain was still foggy, but then she realized. Why did Jakotsu save her? Didn't he hate her? Licking her parched lips and forcing air out of her lungs, she managed to ask him.

"Why did you save me?"

"Because I felt like it alright? And quit moving. You're poisoned if you haven't already noticed."

Kagome nodded while closing her weary eyes again. The pain was getting worse, but she forgot all about that as she fell into unconsciousness again.

_Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much_

The remaining Shichinintai were sitting around the fire awaiting Kagome and Jakotsu's return. It had been a while now, and they were starting to get worried. And the fact that the slasher with whom the miko loved to fight was with her didn't help the situation.

Renkotsu was leaning against the earthen walls of the cave, thinking of that woman. He still didn't know how he was gonna persuade her to work against Bankotsu, but he thought that his sweet sweet honeyed words were slowly working their magic. Ah well. He'll have to wait and see. He knew what she wanted. She wanted to be loved and to be accepted, as Inuyasha had done neither. And he also knew that she was gonna be around for a long time. Perfect.

Opposite the flame user was Bankotsu, staring into the depths of the fire. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but every time that scene played over again in his head, he would feel the rush of a certain emotion.

"_Kagome. How are you feeling?" Renkotsu asked in the best caring voice he could fake at that moment._

_Her eyebrows flew up and disappeared behind her bangs. "I never thought you were the kind to care, Renkotsu."_

"_Well I do now. And I care about you. Is there something wrong with that?"_

"_Well..no...but.."_

"_You know Kagome, you're quite pretty..."_

That last sentance. That was the one that hit his nerve the most becuase Renkotsu was making a move on what was his. No wait. What was _his_? Since when did Kagome belong to him?

_You know Kagome, you're quite pretty.._

Another wave of emotion flooded through him.. This feeling. It was...jealousy.

_I am _not_ jealous and I do _not _want her!_ he yelled in his brain.

**_Quit trying to deny it, you know you are and you know you do._ **The little voice in his brain said back to him.

_No i _don't_. I dont need a hell annoying wench like her!_

**_Then why is she always in your thoughts?_**

_..Because..um...ah well...Shut up!..._

Suikotsu sighed, disturbing Bankotsu's silent battle with himself. He really did enjoy Kagome-san's company. She was very nice and cared for everyone around her, not just herself.

"How long is Jakotsu gonna take to get Kagome?" he said with a small sigh._ I dont want anything to happen to her, even if i haven't known her for that long, she's still like my imouto._

"Iunno. Let's wait a while longer and see if they come back." replied Renkotsu._ I wanna go find her and start persuading her..._now

"But Jakotsu left at sunset and its already near midnight now." _Jakotsu hates her..._

"You don't think he did something to her do you?" _But he's gay..._

"And why are you so worried about her, Renkotsu? I thought you hated her, but then you paid her a compliment and now you're worrying about her?" _Does he like her? Or is he plotting something behind o aniki's back?_

"Urusai. It's none of your buisness."_ Kuso. If o aniki figures out what I'm trying to do, I'll be in so much shit..._

"Do you like her?" _Or at least that's what it looks like._

Bankotsu's eyebrow twitched. He'shad enough of talking about Kagome, and especially about Renkostu liking her." Shut up! Stop talking about this useless shit topic!" he yelled, which made Suikotsu's eyebrow go sky high.

"This isn't useless, o aniki. Love is very powerful and therefore is very important. And plus, Kagome-san has so much love to offer to us so..."

Their leader's eyebrow twitched again. "I said shut up! I'm going for a walk and I'll be back in a while." and he jumped up and walked out of the cave with his precious banryuu slung over his shoulder. "And _don't _follow me!"

Suikotsu shook his head. " What's his problem?...Hey...Do you think_ he_ likes her?" he asked the flame user beside him, who nodded his head slightly. _Emotions huh? Just another way to destroy that brat._

_To love means loving the unlovable_

She was falling. Falling through a vortex of pain and suffering. Why was she here? What did she do to deserve this?

Lightness. Floating. Was she traveling in unconsciousness? How was that possible?

Low voices were heard. And more pain inflicted her already injured shoulder. A warm wetness spread across her back. She knew it was blood. And she also knew that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Her body felt like lead weights. No matter what she tried, she couldn't lift any part of it. Not her hands, not her legs, not her head.

She felt as a liquid was being forced down her throat. It tasted really bad, but there wanst anything she could do to stop it. Was it poison? Or was it medicine? She had no was of finding out.

Was that arms that surrounded her body now? And if they were, who's was it? Who cared enough for her in the feudal era other than her little group and Koga's group to pick her up and not harm her at the same time?

Soft. She was laid on something soft. No more wetness. No more blood. The arms around her were gone, replaced by something warm that was laid on top of her. Vibrations went through the floor signaling to her that someone had just sat down beside her.

Then nothing. No sound, no feeling, no voices, no movement. For how long can it stay that way only to be broken by the sound of rustling fabric and a slap of sandal on wood, followed by an unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn out of it sheath.

But that was as much as she could remember, as the darkness that had been lurking in the shadows came out and took over her body again.

But not before she heard a cry for mercy and sensed a tainted shard.

__

_To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable_

Kagura flew through the air on her feather, hurrying to the person she hated the most. Naraku. She had no choice but to work for him since he held her heart, but she would always dream of the day, the glorious day that she would be freed from him.

Free...that word would mean the world to her. Not needing to return to that bastard. Not needing to fight unwillingly anymore. Not needing to care about the fact that her heart was in someone else's hand. A time where she would feel her own heartbeat..

But that was fantasy. In reality, she was still working for him, therefore, had to go and report something to him. The fact that the Shichinintai, the feared group of assassins that Naraku had brought back from the grave, had taken in a girl that was supposed to be dead.

She didn't know what they were doing with her, and she was pretty sure that stupid baboon man didn't know anything about it yet either. But with a stroke of luck, maybe it'll all work out for the wind soceress. Maybe somehow, because of that girl, they would unite and destroy him, therefore, setting her free.

She knew that plotting against Naraku wasn't a smart thing to do, but she also knew that Kohaku would soon be freed of that asshole's grasp and he too, will plot against him. Kanna was the only one to remain so faithful to him. The only one. Her elder sister.

Kagura looked down at the land beneath her and sighed. Naraku's castle.

With much hatred in her, she landed and put the feather back in her hair, slowly walking up to the door and opening it.

Naraku was sitting there facing away from her with his baboon pelt covering him. " Kagura."

"Naraku."

"What buisness do you have here? I thought I told you to stay in Mount Hakurei to defend it against anyone that would come and disturb me."

"Yes. But I have news. The Shichinintai have taken in that miko that travels with Inuyasha. Apparently, she has been revived and is now walking among the living again."

"Yes...Kagura. I know that she is with the Shichinintai right now. I also happen to know that she is alive again because..." Naraku turned around and faced the wind soceress. "I was the one who brought her back."

__

_Faith means believing the unbelievable_

For the thousandth time, it seemed to her, Kagome opened her eyes and blinked to clear them. She turned her head to one side. She was in a place where the walls were made of a brownish grayish stone. Looking over to the other side, the young miko saw the person she loved to hate standing out in a pink kimono sitting against the darker walls. Jakotsu. Third in command, and slasher of the Shichinintai.

"Where are we?" she questioned the cross dresser in front of her. She thought she heard water from somewhere, but she couldn't place the exact location.

"Cut the questions wench. Is that all you do? Ask question after question?" he snapped back at her and turning away to face the cave wall.

"It's _Kagome_ and _no _asking questions is _not_ the only thing I do!"

"Well that's what you've been doing the whole time I've been stuck with you."

"Well maybe if you answered them then I would stop asking!"

"Fine!"

"So answer my question! Where are we?"

"Look wench I'm o-"

"Its _Kagome_!"

"Does it look like I care? Look _wench_, I'm only gonna say this once so don't bother asking me to repeat myself afterwards! You passed out in that giant hole after you had been poisoned by the youkai that I had to come save your sorry ass from and then I took you to the stupid village healer and got you looked over but the shikon shard in my neck started pulsing and then everything went black!"

Kagome sighed. So Naraku had taken over Jakotsu again. But underneath that, another thought surfaced. "Why did you take me to the healer?"

"Cause Bankotsu no o aniki will have my head if I let you die." he said with anger clouding his voice. "And I said _cut the questions_!"

"But you still didn't give me an answer! Where are we?"

"In some stupid cave behind a waterfall apparently. And whatever got us into here has sealed it up nicely as you should be able to see _and _to make it all better, we have no way of getting out."

Kagome sighed at that information she was just given. Great. They were stuck in a cave with no means of escape except for that tiny tiny hole that a small mouse could've squeezed through and of all the people that she could've been stuck with, it had to be Jakotsu. Still, taking it from a optimistic point of view, it was like a little vacation away from the other four Shichinintai.

"Hey Jakotsu. Why did you save me?" she said quietly.

"Another question? And I already answered you! I felt like it okay?"

"But-"

"But nothing. Quit talking you stupid wench. You're giving me a headache, and besides, be grateful that I actually saved your life."

She sighed. Normally, she would've fired up at that comment, but it didn't matter so much at that moment. "Hey, we gotta do something to pass time here and it might as well be talk. No way in hell am I dying stuck in a cave stuck with someone that hates me."

"Your damn luck"

"..I've been meaning to ask you, but why do you hate me so much?"

"Its none of your fuckin' buisness."

"Is anything polite ever gonna come out of your mouth?"

"No."

Silence fell with Jakotsu looking up at the ceiling and Kagome staring down to the dark rocky ground.

After a while, Kagome was fidgeting slightly. "It getting boring here..."she said with small sigh.

"Well then find something to do wench, as long as it dosent involve talking to me."

She let out an exasperated growl. "I wasn't talking to you in the first place!"

"Whatever. Just quit being annoying."

"Would you drop your 'I hate you act' and tell me why!"

"No."

They sank back into silence.

Which Jakotsu soon broke with a sigh. "Okay. I guess...I don't really...I just never thought that we were gonna have some one else travel with us. Even more so, I never thought it would be some wench like you."

She looked up, surprised that he was on this topic when only a little while ago, he was totally being an asshole. Scratch that. Still _is_ an asshole. "Is there something wrong with travelling with a_ girl_?" she said adding more emphasis on that word.

"Hell ya since I find men are so much more interesting and that no one has ever been brave enough or strong enough to travel with us..." and he trailed off, looking deep into the fire's depths.

Kagome made a funny face at his men are more interesting comment, but let it slide as he continued. "When you came along with us, I hated you for...intruding?"

"Hm Intruding? On what?"

"Just intruding. How hard is that word to understand?"

She stared at him, then took in several deep breaths to calm her rapidly rising temper. After doing that, she forced out in a calm voice "...I never meant to do that. If that's what you think of my actions, then im sorry."

"Not to mention the fact that everyone seems to like you. Even Renkotsu and Bankotsu no o aniki." he grumbled.

She looked down. " I'm sorry." she repeated.

"No...It's not your fault for being liked."

She smiled sightly at his words. "You know Jakotsu. I never hated you. I just thought...I knew that if you wanted, you could be a great friend and ally."

He looked up at her "...After we got killed the first time round, I never trusted anyone to not betray us. And since you were on our enemies side originally, I guess..."

"You thought that I was gonna betray you and get you guys killed again?"

"Yeah..."

"You know I won't."

"I know, but I only realize that now."

The usual silence fell on the two opposites again, as they both learned and thought about all the reasons that they hated and avoided each other before. They could think of alot, but now that the truth was there in front of them, they all seemed really stupid.

"Jakotsu..."she said, breaking the small silence. "Thank you.."

"For what? I did just about nothing for you except insult you so far."

She cracked a smile. "For saving my life, as you kept on reminding me just a bit earlier."

He nodded while rolling his eyes, then added "You know Kagome...I really don't hate you...and I'm sure you understand why it seemed I did now."

Her face emitted so much surprise that he felt it sitting on the other side of the fire. She looked up and found him finally looking at her with his full attention.

"And...Kagome...Gomen nasai..." he added slightly quieter.

She gasped. Since when did Jakotsu say sorry to _anyone_ . "Apology accepted but since when were you-"

"Someone to apologize? Never."

Kagome smiled and slid across the smooth rock floor so she was sitting beside Jakotsu now. He smiled back a rare smile at her and brought her closer.

"So were stuck in here together huh?" she said gently with a small grin on her face.

"Yeah...and to make it worse, no way of getting out of here either..."

"What do you mean to make it worse!" she said faking hurt on her face.

He let out a laugh and then another silence fell on them.

The two of them sat together both staring into the fire with the sound of water on the other side of the boulder calming them down, even if it marked their prison. They had no idea what time it was, they had no idea when and if they could get out, but they knew from that moment on, that they could rely on each other in their time of need.

"Imouto." he suddenly whispered snapping Kagome out of her thoughts and her thinking bubble.

She was shocked. Did he really say what she thought he said? "What did you just say?"

He turned his head to look into her eyes and repeated himself a little louder.

"Imouto."

Okay. And CUT. Chappie over and Jakotsu and Kagome are now friendly with each other and he's even calling her Imouto. Isn't it awesome?.

Next chappie: Bankotsu realizes a few things and Suikotsu has a nice talk with him. The shichinintai minus Jakotsu soon figure out that something is wrong cuz of the time it's taking the gay guy and the miko to return. Meanwhile, Jakotsu and Kagome are still stuck in the cave with no means of escape.

NOW! DONT 4GET 2 REVIEW!

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	4. Realization

Okay sorry for not updating sooner. Thanks to all ma reviewers . I love you all. And a huge thanx 2 InfiniteAffinity for being my editor.

ALSO. i dont own the song i used in here. it belongs to aerosmith "i dont wanna miss a thing"

* * *

_Realization_

_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing_

Bankotsu sighed as he walked through the forests, with his precious halberd resting on his shoulder. He was thinking. Thinking about, like always, that girl.

That girl...

No. Not that girl. Her name's Kagome. Kagome, such a sweet name to him. He didn't need to wonder every two seconds on how she was like he did when she was with dog shit, now that she was traveling with them...Well as their captive. But even so, he still felt that rush of emotion, the need to protect, the want, the desire flowing through him. And whenever another guy made a move on her, no mentioning names, Renkotsu, he would feel the jealousy rise in his chest to the top, threatening to burst out.

That girl was his!

Two seconds later, the young leader realized what he had just thought.

"Ah!" he screamed as he punched a tree with his fist, making a huge hole in it. _She is not mine! She is_ not_ mine!_

Panting, he drew his fist back out of the tree and sat down, leaning against it. He growled. Why the hell did his brain always think that Kagome was his? She wasn't!

**_But you know you want her to be yours._** The little voice in the back of his head came back and started annoying the shit out of him again.

_No I don't._

**_Yes you do._**

_No I _don't

**_You do. You want everything about her. And now you want to go and snuggle up with your koishii. Think about it. Your arms wrapped around her sm-_**

"Shut up! And no I do _not_!" Bankotsu yelled as he jumped up.

"Do not what Bankotsu no o aniki?" said a voice from behind him, succeeding in making him jump a foot off the ground. Growling again and turning around, he saw Suikotsu standing there with a funny expression on his face.

_Watch you smile while you are sleeping_

"You...you're the one that brought Kagome back!" said Kagura to the man underneath the bamboo pelt, her eyes with open with disbelief. "But why did you bring her back? Didn't you want her dead?"

Naraku turned away from her. "I have my plans Kagura."

Kagura too, turned the other way, knowing that she was dismissed. But not before she heard that annoying hanyou's voice and her anger rose slightly. "Well then Naraku, maybe you should tell those helping you of them so they actually know what's going on?"

Big mistake.

At once, her heart felt like invisible hands were clutching it; with no signs that they were going to stop anytime soon. The wind witch was soon on the ground, her own hands over her chest in a feeble attempt to stop the growing pain.

"Do not forget that I hold your heart Kagura. Do not question my orders unless you wish to suffer even more."

She couldn't respond. Only writhe on the ground in total agony.

"You are dismissed. Go to Mount Hakurei and wait for the Inutachi to show up." and released the woman on the floor from her pain while disappearing into the darkness himself.

"Damn you Naraku. Damn you."

A sound from the other side of the room made the wind witch turn around, only to see Kanna and her mirror standing there. Kanna, her sister, her older sister spoke in her quiet eerie voice.

"Kagura, Naraku revived Kagome because he could easily control her."

"Control her? But how? She is a strong soul and can not easily be tampered with."

"She died with hatred and love in her heart. She can easily be corrupted because the hatred she died with overpowers her love."

"What?"

"There is a light at her lower back. That is what sustains her life, not to mention her love. Naraku has the matching orb. If you take the orb there out of her body, or use the other one in the pair, she will be consumed by darkness and under our control."

"So what does Naraku try to gain out of this?"

"I do not know. In time, I'm sure he'll tell us."

Watching her older sister leave without any sound, Kagura slowly cursed everything in her life under her breath. That damn Kanna. She's too trusting in Naraku. It'll be the death of her one day...one day.

_While you're far away and dreaming_

Bankotsu and Suikotsu sat across from each other in a small clearing they had found. The leader, with his head down and eyes closed, and the doctor, looking curiously at him. Though Suikotsu had said to the younger man that he needed to talk to him, none of them were saying anything at that moment.

So it was the older man that decided to break the silence with a question. "Bankotsu no o aniki? I want to ask you something."

The younger guy looked up to show that he was listening.

"Do you like her?"

Bankotsu felt the blood rush to his face as his other eye snapped open as well. "_This_ is what you wanted to talk about?" he asked with much amazement.

"Yeah, is there something wrong with it?"

The leader quickly snapped his jaws shut when he noticed that they were hanging open a foot off the ground. He made a noise of disbelief, but other than that, he gave no other answer.

"So, do you like her?"

The younger man's face turned an even darker shade of red. _Please don't let Suikotsu be talking about Kagome. Please don't let him be talking about her..._" Who?" he asked the doctor uncertainly.

"Judging from the color of your face, I think you know who I'm talking about." A smile was slowly making its way onto Suikotsu's face at the sight of his embarrassed leader.

"No I don't! That's why I'm asking you!"

The older of the two shook his head while letting out a deep breath and said "To tell you the truth, I think she's the nicest girl I've met in a very long time. So selfless and caring, plus o aniki, there's nothing wrong with loving someone like her. I would if I had the chance to."

"Shut up! Who said I loved Kagome?" Bankotsu jumped up off the ground and glared at the doctor, who burst out laughing.

"Who said I was talking about Kagome?"

The Shichinintai leader's face turned the darkest shade of red possible as he huffed and sat back down, determined to look anywhere except for his companion.

"You do like her don't you o aniki? It's rather obvious..."

"It's obvious?" stammered Bankotsu. "I-I mean- I _don't_ like her! What're you talking about!"

Suikotsu laughed even harder. "It_is_ obvious. Just admit it. It'll save you from more embarrassment."

His leader said nothing, only looked down with a small sound halfway between a growl and a sigh.

"Something wrong?"

"No."

"You need to work on your skills at denying the obvious o aniki."

"Shut up. I just don't know if..."

"If she loves you back?"

"Yeah..."

"Don't worry about it just yet. Just as long as you're sure about your feelings towards Kagome it's okay. Don't doubt yourself before you actually tell her right? I mean, there's a chance that she will love you back. But then again, there's also a chance that she won't but-"

"Thanks Suikotsu, but your last comments really aren't helping."

"Oh. Right, gomen nasai. But at least you got it out that you love her."

"Shut up! And _don't_ tell _anyone_ that I like her, you hear me?" yelled the leader, realizing that he wasn't ready to share his feelings with anyone yet. Well other than Suikotsu who figured it out.

"Sure o aniki. Whatever you say." said a laughing Suikotsu.

"Suikotsu, domo arigatou."

His companion nodded. "Dou itashimashite."

A comfortable silence fell onto the two, while they were off in their thoughts. Bankotsu, obviously thinking about his Kagome, and Suikotsu, thinking about what the miko would say in response to his leader's confession of love.

After a little while, the younger man decided to break the silence. "Hm... Do you think we should head back to the cave now?"

The doctor looked up with a small smile. "Scared your koishii hasn't come back yet?" he said enjoying the sight of the faint blush that made its way onto the other man's face at his words.

"Shut up. And remember to keep your trap shut if she's in there."

"Hai. I will. But only if she's in there?"

"No. Just keep it shut in general."

"Okay. Let's go back then."

The two men got up and started walking back to the cave. While walking, Bankotsu replayed what he had just admitted to his companion in his head. He found no lie in his words or thoughts. He closed his eyes as one last thought took over his mind.

_I...I love her...I love Kagome..._

_I could spend my life in this sweet surrender_

Bankotsu and Suikotsu made it back to their cave with no further interruptions other than a rustle in the bush that happened to be a boar. The two mercenaries had looked at each other and dived for the animal at once, thus successfully catching their meal for the night.

Dinner was made and eaten in absolute silence, except for the fire's crackling. Late afternoon turned to night, the sun was replaced by the moon, and the stars came out to sight.

And still, Jakotsu and Kagome didn't return.

The shichinintai in the cave slowly went to sleep one by one until only Bankotsu was left sitting there, staring into the flames and wondering where his love was.

He sighed and wondered if she would be back in time to sleep tonight. When she was sleeping was a time when he could admire her beauty without anyone getting suspicious or risk her finding out. A time when she would not raise questions about him staring at her. There would always be some sort of smile on her sleeping face that made him smile even when they knew she was sad and remembering the past. And... She was so beautiful. Why didn't Inutrasha love her? And...And why did he, a person that he knew Kagome wasn't going to accept love her? Why could he make every girl fall at his feet but the one he wanted? Why was life so unfair?

Why did she have to love a guy that didn't love her, but not want a guy that loves her? Inutrasha's two timing her with that dead priestess that he came upon a few days ago right? And Kagome knows that, but why won't she leave him? What was so important to her about him that she would stay by his side no matter what?

He was just as good looking! He carried around a big ass sword as well! He had the long hair that the mutt had as well! And in terms of strength, they were matched equal! What was the difference? Why does it have to be _Trasha?_

Trasha that owns her heart, trasha that can do what he wants to her, trasha that can tell her anytime that he loves her and be sure a hundred percent that she'll accept him?

A mental picture suddenly came into his head where Inutrasha and Kagome were sitting together under the stars. He squirmed in disgust and shook the picture out of his head. But then, Kagome was in it was she not?

Modifying his earlier mental image, he kicked trasha out of the picture and replaced it with himself. Himself that Kagome was leaning on, him that Kagome was with, him that Kagome loved. The stars and the night was theirs alone, a place together where no one else can go to.

If there really was such a place, and they really could go there and be alone, he would have agreed 150 percentto go with her. He would go anywhere with her, even if he knew it would cost him his life.

He gasped at what he just thought. He would die for her, her happiness. Did he already love her that much? It had just been almost a day since he had realized his love. Besides, if he hadn't admitted to Suikotsu and to himself that he loved her, then he would still be lying to himself about his feelings towards the modern miko.

Miko...no Kagome. He should start using her name more. Okay Kagome. That black haired beauty was the thing that kept him going now. Wake up everyday to know that he needed to protect her. Know that when he wakes up he'll see her. Know that she'll be by his side, or somewhere near him until he goes back to sleep at the end of the day.

His Kag_o_me. His-

"O aniki?"

Snapping out of his daydreaming, he spun around annoyed and ready to punch the shit out of the person that dared interrupt him, but it was only Suikotsu ...again. "This is the second fuckin' time! What the hell do you want?"

The doctor held up his hands, obviously startled by the venom in his leader's voice. "It's..It's nothing..."

"Well then-"

"Who the hell is yelling in the middle of the night?"

The doctor and leader turned to see a pissed off Renkotsu rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Suikotsu said nothing, but turned to look slightly at Bankotsu, and that was all pyro needed to get his answer. "So o aniki, please explain the reason you're yelling in the _middle _of the night!"

"It's nothing! Suikotsu was just disturbing me when I was-"

"But you weren't doing anything. All you were doing was sitting there. I was going to ask you if you wanted to get some sleep and I'll take over watch for the rest of the night."

"You think? You think I was keeping watch?"

"Well...yeah it certainly looked like it. You were turning around every few seconds to look out the cave entrance you know."

"I wasn't looking out for enemies! I was just looking out for Ka-...never mind" and his voice faded away on the last word.

"Oo..So you were watching for when your beloved Kagome returned?"

A gagging noise was heard from the opposite side of the cave which turned out to be the fire shichinintai mentioned before. "Beloved Kagome?"

Bankotsu shot Suikotsu a murderous look that didn't help him at all in the situation he had just been put into.

"Well you're not denying it so I'll take saint doctor's word here to be true."

"Okay _fine!_ I like her okay? Now shut up about it!" growled Bankotsu as he got up and moved himself deeper into the cave, purposely facing himself away from the others so that no one could see how red his face had become.

"Well then! Get to sleep o aniki! And I'll watch for your Kagome's return and you dream of her!" said Renkotsu, his voice heavy with laughter. _Good. Bankotsu has fallen for her. That will make my plan hurt him more, since he would do anything for Kagome now._

"Shut up!" And the youngest of them came back as quick as possible out the back of the cave and sat in the spot he had been in just a few seconds before. "I'm watching for her. N_ot _you. N_ot _Suikotsu. I am!"

"Whoa. Calm down o aniki. I'm sure you're just worried for her and how long she's taking to come back. It's okay. I'm sure she will."

"Whatever. Just go back to sleep."

Renkotsu looked rather grumpy as he muttered under his breath "And get woken up with yelling again. Great." But fortunately for him, his leader didn't hear him. Bankotsu had already gone back to thinking.

He wondered where she was right now. And he hoped that Jakotsu hadn't done anything to hurt her, but his hopes weren't that high since the slasher supposedly hated Kagome. And if she didn't come within a few hours, he would go out and look for her himself.

He wondered if Kagome was as cute or even cuter as a kid then now. Of course, on the cute-o-meter, to him, she had already maxed out but he wouldn't put it past her to be even more adorable younger. He wondered if she ever had someone court her before, love her before. Not like Inutrasha's type of I'm-using-you-right-now-love, but real love. Or was he her first?

Her first. Her lips telling him that he was her first and only. Her lips for him to kiss, her lips for him to ravish. All his.

Her body, her soul. And no one else can touch her, of flirt with her, or show interest in her in anyway, all because she belonged to him, Bankotsu and Bankotsu only. The only one that can touch her. The only one that can have her in that special way. What he wouldn't give to be that man...

With a snap, he snapped himself out of the daydream he had just been in for the past two seconds. Not good. Thinking perverted thoughts about that girl was not good. The last thing he needed was for his friends to find out just how much he loved her. Then he would be committed to their teasing, and possibly Kagome's anger if they told her, and nothing was worth making her hate him.

But maybe she doesn't hate him! Maybe she wants to be with him as much as he wants to be with her.

_Well, I just wanna be with you_

She would smile at him. She didn't mind if he woke her up with a smile on his face. She didn't care if he purposely walked slower just so that he could be near her.

_Right here with you, just like this_

So maybe, she had gotten rid of the hate factor that used to run through her when she saw him.

_I just wanna hold you close_

Maybe she was starting to accept him as someone who would protect her from all harm.

_Feel your heart so close to mine_

Maybe she would soon accept him as even more than that.

_And just stay here in this moment_

As her love.

_For all the rest of time_

And..and...maybe he should stop lying to himself. She would never accept a person like him, a person that murders. A person that takes another's life to make their own. And now a person that kills just because of a hanyou's orders.

But...no matter what was true and what was false, there was always one thing that he would never lie about.

He loved her with all his heart.

But little did said leader know, behind his back and in the shadows, Renkotsu had given an evil smirk._ I know you want to see her again, o aniki. And now I know just how much you love her and want her to love you back. I will do anything in my power to stop it from happening. Oh, and that, I can _promise_ you._

Okay and the chappies over. Bankotsu's finally realized that he loves Kagome and had admitted it to 2 of his brothers. Renkotsu upon hearing this, has an evil plan in the back of his mind already. His plan won't be a big part of the stroy till later though

NEXT CHAPPIE: the band remember that Jakotsu and Kagome had been gone for about a day now, and they set out to look for them. Will they find them, or lose a brother and a love forever?


	5. Waterfall

Okay. ( It seems lik I always start with okay...) But back to this, I want to thank all the people who reviewed my last chappie. Tho it wasn't the best chappie, I still appreiciate all the people who left me a review. PLEASE REVIEW THIS CHAPPIE

I also need to thank my editor/beta reader Bankotsu'sAngel. (Bunchies of thnx 2 u)

And I also thank all the people who have read my story so far.

* * *

_Waterfall_

__

_I could stay lost in this moment forever_

For the four members of the band of seven in the cave, night turned to dawn and the sun peaked up from in between the snowy mountains in the east casting a gold light on the land. A rustle from outside proved that the daytime animals were waking up and hunting for their breakfast, while the nocturnal ones scurry back to their home until was time to run the over land again.

Suikotsu slowly opened his eyes. He saw his leader sitting facing the long burnt out fire with his head slightly lowered. Renkotsu was the only one still sleeping, and the fact that there was no sign of their two missing members put a slight chill in his heart. He too, sat up and joined his leader in sitting and staring into the ashes.

The sun rose to mid mountain height. The cave lit up with golden light that shed a beam on Renkotsu's face waking him up to the sight of his brothers sitting and staring at what looked like nothing to him. What the hell were they doing?

Now that everyone was awake, they decided silently, with no words spoken, only looks and nods to get breakfast. No one was mentioning what they heard their leader admit last night; the fact that he loved the missing priestess. Renkotsu wasn't even sure if it was real; it felt inconceivable.

Sitting around the fire that had been burnt out last night, re-lit by Bankotsu, died out again and now finally re-lit to make their morning meal; they sat around waiting, for their food to cook and for Jakotsu and Kagome to return.

Breakfast was soon finished as well, and still no sign of them. It had been just about a full day since they went missing. They were pretty sure it didn't take the slasher one day to find the miko.

No.

But say that he did find her. What if...what if he killed her? What if something happened to both of them?

Bankotsu was on the verge of jumping up and running out to find her. He couldn't sit around while his best friend and love's lives could possibly be in danger. Voicing his opinion, thus making him the first person to speak of the day.

"Do you think we should go and find them? Or not and wait a while longer and see if they come?"

Suikotsu looked up with his eyes showing relief that he wasn't the one to start the conversation. "I vote for going to find them." The others, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu, nodded in solemn agreement with their eyes slowly straying back to Bankotsu. The flame off the group was seriously tempted to ask him if he really did love Kagome or if he imagined it now that the heavy mood was gone from the place.

But before he could open his mouth to ask, the guy in question said "Then let's move out right now."

Renkotsu growled in annoyance.

...But after the whole morning and most of the afternoon of searching, he wasn't the only one growling with annoyance. Suikotsu was, and Bankotsu five minutes ago, even Ginkotsu was getting annoyed at the time they already spent finding next to nothing.

The "next to nothing" was the fact that their only clue so far was a scrap of Jakotsu's yukata on a piece of wood that was sticking out of a hut in a town that was surprisingly, people-less. No one ran the shops, No one worked the fields, not one child played outside and all the huts were empty.

"What the hell happened here?" wondered Bankotsu walking among the deserted streets holding his friend's kimono scrap in one hand and gripping Banryuu with his other. He was finding the eerie silence rather nerve wrecking

Beside said leader Renkotsu too was feeling it.

"Well put it this way. If they had been murdered, we have to at least expect some bodies lying around right?"

"But I don't see any." which made Renkotsu roll his eyes at his leader's naïve personality.

"No shit."_ How is it that a person with a pile of shit for brains can be leading a skilled band of mercenaries like us? We would be so much better off if he would just quit being an idiot. Or is that possible?_

So they weren't murdered. Hm...what else could've happened to a village of people like this and most importantly what is a piece of Jakotsu's clothing doing here?"

"Maybe they passed through this way and it got caught on the piece of wood and tore off?" suggested Suikotsu pointing out the most logical explanation to their issue.

"Okay. But then where are they now?"

No one answered their leader's question as they were all wondering the same thing. Looking off into the distance, they saw the sun slowly sinking down into the mountain tops disappearing from their sight. Great. A whole day of searching was gone. Night was going to fall soon and they would have to set camp up or be forced to sleep in the cold with no fire to warm them up.

"Looks like there's a waterfall on that mountain. Do you want to camp at the base of it? I mean, at the very least we'll be sure that we have water for the night right?" said Renkotsu pointing at the said mountain which was maybe a thirty minute walk away from where they were right now.

It was unanimous since they had no better idea and so, the four people set off for their camp that night, the only addition for the day being the little scrap of pink and green cloth.

But little did they know just who else was camping there tonight. The only difference was that they were halfway up the mountain behind the very waterfall they were camping beside.

__

_Every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure_

"Imouto"

Kagome stared.

Imouto.

Little sister.

So if she was his little sister...then she was part of his family right? His family, the shichinintai? Or was her brain just playing tricks on her, seeing if she had been affected by her earlier poison?

Jakotsu smiled at the miko's opened mouth wonder and decided to answer before she asked; to save her the effort of asking. "No I'm not bullshitting you and no your brain's not screwed up. I'll think of you as my imouto and you can call me your aniki if you agree."

She smiled as he answered her unasked question. "Domo arigatou and…hai I'll be your imouto." she said as she gave him a nice hug with her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulders. "Jakotsu no aniki."

The slasher looked surprised at her actions for a second, but then forgot about it as he slid his arms around her waist. _Wow...my first time hugging any girl willingly or not...This actually isn't that bad...except, for the fact that this is my brand new imouto._

After a while of staying like that, Kagome slowly slid her arms off of her new aniki's shoulders and dropped them back to her side, but leaving her head where it was. He too loosened his grip on her but still with her sitting in his arms and leaned against the side of the cave.

"Hey, I'm sorry for pissing you off and calling you a bitch so many times before. And I'm sorry I made you so mad that you left and got attacked." Jakotsu apologized quietly with such a cute expression on his face that his imouto couldn't help but forget all her previous anger towards his actions and forgive him on the spot.

"And I'm betting that it wasn't just coincidence that you happened to be there when I needed help."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean! You know I would help my little sister anytime!" he protested back. But seeing the look on her face he hastily added "But if you must know, then Bankotsu no o aniki sent me to get you."

"Bankotsu? And why did he send you of all people?"

"Yes Bankotsu. He sent me because I was being rude to you." He had half expected her to get angry and yell but on the contrary, she laughed which surprised him.

"You're- You're not mad?"

"No. I guess I should get used to you if I'm going to be your imouto and I'm traveling with you guys. Well that's if you let me." she looked up at him hopefully.

He grinned back at her. "Sure. But you'll be treated like one of us, like with the same responsibilities and stuff."

With a determined look on her face and a nod she said "Got it."

"And you'll be under Bankotsu no o aniki's command as well."

Kagome groaned. "Under command?..."

"Yeah. Whatever he says goes okay? You can't argue with him"

"But what if I don't agree with him?"

"Listening to him is how we survived together okay Kagome? If we didn't listen to him, then we would've been killed a long, long time ago."

Kagome sighed and shut it. She knew that there wasn't any way she could get around the fact that she was now under Bankotsu's command and had to listen to everything he said. "Fine."

"Good imouto. And by the way, your hairs a mess. You should fix it up and wash the dirt off your face."

The modern miko scowled and rubbed her face with her hands and running her fingers through her hair in a feeble attempt to look better, but then she noticed something on her brother.

"By the way back to you, Jakotsu no aniki, you're missing a piece of your yukata."

__

_Don't want to close my eyes_

The night passed slowly for both parties up on the heart of the mountain and at the base. The two groups sat, the two groups argued, the two groups worried. None slept.

Jakotsu and Kagome, at the heart contemplated the fact that if they were trapped in the cave for any longer, they were going to die. Of thirst, or of hunger, whichever one came to take them first. That put the two of them into a nervous silence, neither one of them saying what was obviously going to come, preferring to keep quiet about it.

The single words they spoke to each other soon became fewer and fewer and less and less to do with anything important and they were doing less and less to help lighten the dark mood that hung heavily above them like a rain cloud.

The fire that had been left by the being that put them in the cave was still going and the two were surprised that they hadn't already died from the smoke, but then again, there _was _that little hole at the top of the rock that blocked their escape... they suppose that's where all the smoke had gone, thank goodness.

But on the contrary, that stupid little hole didn't increase their chances of escaping which was hitting at flat line zero right now...or that's what they think, so the two had been sitting in silence for the better part of the last two hours, watching as the smoke drifted lazily out the hole.

Bankotsu, Suikotsu, Renkotsu, and Ginkotsu at the base, too were all thinking as well. But what they were thinking about couldn't be more different than the two above them. Strange how a rock and height puts a person into a whole different mind set.

None were thinking about dying, none were thinking on food and water, only wasting their time thinking of things that weren't important or vital and slowly, once by one, they dropped off to sleep, even Bankotsu.

In the early morning, Renkotsu woke up and thought he saw smoke flying horizontally out of the waterfall that was beside them. Rubbing his eyes and blinking them twice, he looked again only to find that the smoke was still there. He groaned. What the hell was he imagining this time? First his leader's confession and now horizontal smoke coming from a _waterfall_?

But...it looked so real that he couldn't pass it up for imagination...It was like it was actually there. He was sure of it...

_Ah! Suikotsu!_ He thought. The doctor was next in line for smartness, after him of course, with Bankotsu and Kyokotsu coming close in the race for last.

Reaching out his arm, and sticking his index finger out, he poked the sleeping doctor's arm. Tap, tap...nothing happened. Poke, Poke...nothing again. _Jab, Jab _Suikotsu jumped up and produced a dagger from his form, pointing it to Renkotsu.

"What the fuck! It's me! Renkotsu!" hissed the pyromaniac with a blade a hair's width away from his neck.

"Huh? Renkotsu?"

"Yes it's me. Now drop the damn knife!"

Suikotsu did just that, and then looked around only to see that all his other brothers were sleeping. Turning his gaze to the brother that just poked him away he asked "What the hell? I see it's not time to go yet. So why did y-"

"Sh! Don't wake the others up. Now look over there at the waterfall and tell me if you see smoke coming out of it. I needed to check. I've been imagining a lot of things lately...like I imagined that last night, o aniki-never mind."

The doctor swung his head up and looked. Then he lowered his gaze and gave Renkotsu a smile. "You're not imagining things. I see the smoke too. And as for last night, Bankotsu did admit that he loved Kagome."

The other man smiled back. "I'll make a point to bug him about that later. As for now, since it's real, let's check out the smoke shall we?"

"We shall." answered Suikotsu with a nod.

The two shichinintai climbed up the rocky path all the way to the middle of the mountain. The journey up was not exactly what you call "keep your sleeping comrades asleep" material. Suikotsu managed to grab onto a rock and then cause a miniature avalanche of rocks to pour down onto the landscape below. The two men just managed to escape the falling rocks by running their asses up the steep path and causing a pebble rock slide beneath their feet in their wake.

Higher up the mountain path, they found out that the rocky landscape was replaced by forests and the path was even narrower then it had been before not to mention that there were weird plants growing along the side of the trail.

Great.

Renkotsu managed to cut his hand on one of these weird plants, which turned out to be...poison ivy. He started screaming out curses at the top of his lungs as the effects of the plant started to kick in and he began to itch uncontrollably, so loud that people at the base of the next mountain could've heard it while Suikotsu dashed around trying to find the right plants to put on his cut and stop the itching.

Half an hour later, Renkotsu was walking and grumbling about stupid useless plants as he walked as fast as he could, his cut hand in bandages with herb paste and Suikotsu walking behind him, trying to keep up, mumbling about how the pyromaniac should be more careful.

The smoky waterfall section was soon coming into view. Carefully picking their way to the waterfall, they managed to get right beside it. Perhaps it was lucky that the waterfall wasn't big or strong or they would've been blown right off their feet.

"Okay. Here's where the smoke is coming from. I don't see anything that would help us get rid of the water though, unless you got a bucket?" Sarcasm dripped off of Suikotsu's words as he turned to his brother. Maybe a little too quickly since a second later, the doctor slipped and fell out of sight.

Taking a few rocks with him.

Renkotsu gasped as he ran to the edge where the doctor had just stood a few seconds ago. A huge sweatdrop ran down the side of his face when he saw said man looking up at him with a smile on his face and pointing at the waterfall. "This rock," he said gesturing to a rock that shattered on impact with the ground "must be a switch of some sort. See look here. Words are carved into this rock beside it and now, the water's disappearing."

"Huh. I guess that's that." said Renkotsu "Now the water's gone and- hey! The smoke's coming out of a hole in the rocks!"

And so it was.

And it was also the very hole that was left to keep Jakotsu and Kagome alive. A path of narrow ledges suddenly appeared and led to about 10 feet below the hole. But there was nothing there as far as they could see.

"Do you think I should like…blow it up or something to see what's behind it? I mean, the path must lead somewhere right?" he continued which got a nod for an answer, so he took explosives out of his haori and lit them on fire. Chucking with all his strength, it hurled straight into the rocky face, just missing the hole and blew up the moment it hit.

"Hah! I knew it!" shouted Renkotsu as an entrance of what looked like to a cave appeared when the dust settled. Suikotsu nodded again and pointed to the narrow ledge.

"Let's go."

The two men walked across the narrow edges, slowly to cave entrance to avoid slipping and falling down the now non existent waterfall, which would probably mean their death.

When they reached the cave entrance finally after fifteen minutes of slipping and sliding, their eyes went wide at the sight of the two people sitting huddled together beside the fire that was the source of the smoke they saw earlier.

__

_I don't want to fall asleep _

Jakotsu and Kagome had just about given up hope of getting out of there alive. They tried everything, Kagome's purifying energy, Jakotsu's jakotsutou, and still, the stupid rock would break. They resorted to chucking little pebbles at it, knowing that it won't shatter the larger rock but still, as to vent their anger.

"That's it. Were doomed to die in here." grumbled Kagome throwing another pebble at their blocked entrance.

"No kidding." groaned back her brother as he too chucked a rock at the same destination. But as if by magic, the moment it touched the huge boulder, it blew up, blowing all the pebbles they chucked before back to them to add to dust and smoke. Also, it effectively put out their fire.

Jakotsu jumped up and threw his arms around a shocked and screaming Kagome, shielding her from everything that was coming at them.

When the smoke cleared, they blinked. Jakotsu lifted his head from Kagome's and turned it around, while Kagome peaked up from behind his shoulder. What stood there surprised them, but at the same time, relief washed over both of them.

The boulder was gone. Renkotsu and Suikotsu were standing there, looking just as shocked to see them as they were to see them.

"S-suikotsu! Renkotsu!" screamed Jakotsu and Kagome at the same time as Suikotsu and Renkotsu yelled "Jakotsu! Kagome!"

Kagome ran out of her brother's arms and into Suikotsu's. "Suikotsu! How did you ever find us? I thought we were doomed to die in there forever!"

"Long story Kagome-sama. But how did you guys end up stuck in this cave? We were so worried about you. I mean we spent the whole of yesterday looking for you and the only thing we found was a piece of Jakotsu's haori. I think o aniki hadn't stopped holding it since we found it. I think he even slept with it…"

That last comment made Kagome start to giggle uncontrollably and Renkotsu give a slight sinister smile.

"So you sure you're okay Kagome? You sure you don't need anything?" asked Renkotsu when her laughter had died down. "Sure you're not missing lover boy?" The addition to the sentence earned him a bonk to the head from Suikotsu.

"Huh? Who's lover boy?"

Suikotsu shot the guy that let it slip a death glare. "Oh...n-no one. Just that guy you remember him? From the last village we went to and didn't destroy?"

"We didn't go to a village that you didn't destroy, so no I don't remember him."

"Uh...maybe you just forgot. Yeah. You forgot."

Kagome rolled her eyes and Jakotsu put his arm around her shoulder. "Yeah, yeah...whatever. Now how did you find us and where's everyone else?"

Suikotsu and Renkotsu's eyes were popped open at the sight of Kagome and Jakotsu being so friendly with each other, and more surprisingly was the fact that the usually gay guy liked the company of a _girl!_

"Hello? Earth to Suikotsu!"

The doctor stared at the hand waving in front of his face for a while before snapping out of it. "Oh! Uh…Bankotsu and Ginkotsu were still sleeping when we left. And we thought we saw smoke coming out of the waterfall that you guys were behind so we decided to come and check it out. And then there was this weird switch and -"

His explanation was interrupted by a voice from behind them, sounding slightly angry at first, and then changing into surprise. "Oi! Why didn't you tell us you guys were leaving and _why the hell is Jakotsu's arm around Kagome_?

The four of them whipped around to find Bankotsu standing there with his halberd on the usual place on his shoulder and Jakotsu's haori scrap in his other hand. That piece of haori instantly brought back the conversation of just two seconds ago and the one last night, so instead of answering like she should've, she cracked up and began her laughing fit again.

Jakotsu was smiling beside her, he too was remembering...

"What the hell?" said Bankotsu as his eyebrow started twitching. " Renkotsu, you were here first, what happened here?"

"I have no idea. But it seems that Kagome and Jakotsu are no longer arguing or fighting every second they're together. I swear, if I heard them screaming at each other one more time_ I_ was going to blow up."

"No worries then. We don't scream at each other anymore! I mean why would I scream at my lovely imouto. I think she could help me with getting a hottie too, since she's so pretty. Right?"

Everyone else fell to the floor. _Imouto?_ Since when? Since when has Jakotsu taken a liking to girls?

"Huh use me to get a guy will ya? I love you too Jakotsu no aniki." she said as she slid herself back into his arms and hugged him.

Renkotsu raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of him. Boy those two had a lot of explaining to do. Granted they were never going to become a couple since Jakotsu's gay and Kagome likes Inuyasha...or so he thinks but seeing them hugging each other was just downright weird.

Suikotsu smiled slightly. The girl he had thought his sister from when she had first joined them was finally getting along with his whole family now. His brother had accepted her, and with Bankotsu, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu's agreement, she would officially become all of their sisters. But his slight smile turned into an even bigger smile as he spotted his leader's face off to his right.

Bankotsu, hearing that his gay brother had finally accepted Kagome, his secret love, into their family, he was happy, but when he heard her say that she loved him and hugged him along with it, his jealousy instantly grew and threatened, like always, to blow up out of him even though he _knew _Jakotsu was gay.

He was gripping his Banryuu handle so tightly his knuckles were turning white and was looking at the ground, not the two hugging in front of his face. Not to mention he was replaying what Jakotsu had said inside his head. "_I mean why I would scream at my lovely imouto is beyond me. I think she could help me with getting a hottie too, since she's so pretty. Right?"_ Of course she was, meaning that a lot of guys wanted her as well and he wasn't the only one.

Competition.

"Ahem!" coughed Renkotsu finally noticing his leader's discomfort and causing the two of them to break apart. "Let's go stay here and camp here for the rest of today. I mean, unless you guys want to go all the way back down there."

"Nope, I'd much rather stay here!" said Kagome with a smile. Jakotsu and Suikotsu nodded. Bankotsu said nothing.

"Then I say we set up camp?"

Another nod of agreement from the others.

So the Shichinintai plus Kagome split up in pairs to go off into a different direction and do a different task. Renkotsu went off to find some firewood; enough to keep the fire burning for the whole night. And he also had to go get Ginkotsu too.

He sighed. Kagome was Jakotsu's imouto now, meaning that she was most likely the whole Shichinintai's imouto. I mean, he had no objections to that. That would just make his plan a whole lot easier...

_Maybe I'll get her a gift…Yes a gift...to show her that I accept her into our family, and hopefully, it will gain me some more trust. Yes. That's a good idea._

Jakotsu kept Kagome with him and went down to the river whose water used to be from the waterfall and collected a few buckets of water. That left Bankotsu and Suikotsu to look for food to feed them for the next little while.

"So no aniki. When are you going to tell her?" the doctor said.

"Shut up. And I don't know."

"Still scared of rejection huh?"

"Yeah...I think...It feels like I'm not worth her."

"Don't worry o aniki. If someone can see the true worth of you, it's Kagome. And also...I was thinking...I want to bring her back a gift. Anything to show her that I accept her into our family. Do you think I should?"

The young leader looked up. Why didn't he think of that himself! "Hey. Go look for the food Suikotsu, I have to go do something. I'll meet you back at the cave. See ya!" and with that, the dark haired teen took off into the night leaving the doctor standing there alone.

"Well that was interesting...guess it's urgent if he has to run off like that...not to mention it probably has something to do with Kagome..."

Jakotsu and Kagome sat together on the side of the stream holding two _ahem_ **_stolen_** _ahem_ buckets into the water to fill it up.

Suddenly, the slasher had an idea. Taking one hand off of the bucket, he reached into his pink yukata and drew out a hairpin, identical to the one he was wearing in his hair.

"Here. This is for you imouto. And-" He lifted the bucket back onto the shore and reached into his yukata again. "This is a copy of my outfit. It's the exact same as the yukata and hairpin I wear so when you wear it, everyone will know that you're my imouto!"

Kagome looked at the little ornate accessory and the clothing in her brother's hands and reached out for it, feeling the smooth blue ball and the shiny silver metal that ended in a sharp point, the soft silky pink fabric with its green decorations and smiled. "Domo arigatou Jakotsu no aniki, I will wear them with you always in my mind."

He smiled. "Hey. No need to get so serious. Now go put it on. I want to see what you look like in them!"

_And I don't wanna miss a thing_

Bankotsu had been searching for a perfect present for _his_ Kagome. It took forever to think of an idea that would be suitable for her, to represent her courage, her power, her beauty.

But in the end, it came to him. She only had her backpack when they took her from the Inu-tachi therefore, no weapon. Since she was a priestess, a bow for her would be perfect. And it would be even more perfect if he made it for her himself.

So he did. Sitting on a rock, he had shaped the bow himself, fitted the string and added the decorations. The arrows, he just made them simply, because he knew that if he made it too nice, Kagome wouldn't use them in fear of breaking them or not getting them back.

The wood he used was the best and the strongest he could find. The strings were the best quality. But the crowning beauty on the bow was what was carved into the wood. Bankotsu had carved a rose into the wood, to represent her beauty. The stem with the thorns were also there, to represent that even the most perfect person has flaws and that he hoped that she could forgive his. That he was a mercenary.

And the last touch was that he had carved Kagome's name where she could see it when she used this weapon. He was going to show her that.

He had thought on the next one on how he should represent this. He had already finished the bow and the arrows. So what now?

Her courage and her power.

No other woman that he had met had as much courage as she did. When they first captured her, she had the courage to keep living her life and not break down and surrender to them, as he had half expected her to. Her power.

The fight with Inuyasha. She purified his demon side and she had stopped his Banryuu from hitting said dog demon's neck.

It finally came to him.

The quiver. He could carve the character for courage on it.

Then it would be truly perfect. This bow would be Kagome's and Kagome's only.

ANNDDDD... That's the chappie. Jakotsu and Kagome are found by Suikotsu and Renkotsu and they all seem to accept Kagome into their family. Talking about family, they all decide to give Kagome a special present to show their affections to her. So far, Jakotsu's the only one that's given her something, a copy of his yukata and hair accesory and Bankotsu makes his own special present to give to Kagome.

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NEXT CHAPPIE: Renkotsu's plan is gonna start becoming a bigger part of the story as Bankotsu ponders on the best way to tell Kagome that he loves her. But of course, not all things go that smoothly. With a little help and nudges from the dead...

People That left me a review last chappie: (thnx a WHOLE bunch 2 u guys once again):  
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	6. Aishiteru

Woah. Been a while since I updated so I wanna say a BIG sorry 4 the delay. AND REVIEWS NEEDED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER IS 180. IF I DONT GET 180 IM NOT UPDATING. -smile- nd im sure you guys all want me 2 update...right? .

And like always, I wanna thank my editor/beta infinateAffinity

The words that are italiciced are the english translation of the CHINESE thats written above it. its a song and the title is holding your hand through life. I don't own the song by the way. If u can read chinese, awesome. But if u can't english translation. ITs not exact, but ull get the general meaning of the song.

* * *

_Aishiteru_

_牽手__人生_

_Holding your hand through life_

Renkotsu slowly trudged through the forest keeping his hands folded across his chest to avoid another incident with those weird plants again. That morning's experience was as painfully itchy as it gets. If it were not for Suikotsu, he would've probably killed his hand from scratching and since Suikotsu was with Bankotsu right now, and not him, he smartly kept his hands as far away as possible from any vegetation.

And speaking of Bankotsu, Renkotsu had just formulated the perfect plan for preventing him from seeing his _precious _Kagome again. First of all though, he needed some help from the jewel shards. That was easy enough. He still had the bottle of shards that he had jacked from Kagome earlier on and he really was surprised that she hadn't ask him for them back yet. Also, he needed the help of the dead...or the twice dead.

He knew he couldn't let Ginkotsu in on the secret, that stupid machine would probably let slip something and all of his lovely well put together plans would go up in flames. If his mechanical companion really did let something slip, then he would not be rid of Bankotsu, and he would've lost all of Kagome's trust in him.

Not something he wanted. So, he kept his plan a secret from everyone.

Reaching the base of the mountain where they had camped last night, he found Ginkotsu parked there calmly waiting for their return not even bothering to ask where all of them went during the time he was asleep.

"Ginkotsu." said Renkotsu answering his brother anyways.

"We found Kagome and Jakotsu. They were being kept in a cave behind the waterfall that used to feed this river about halfway up the mountain. Go there and you'll find the cave. Just wait there for them to return since we're all supposed to be on a task right now."

"_Gesh_. Okay. What is your task Renkotsu no aniki _gesh gesh_?"

"I'm _supposed _to be collecting firewood."

"Oh! _Gesh!_ I'll help you! _Gesh_"

"N-no! I-I mean...that's really nice of you Ginkotsu but I really don't need any help. Just wait for me at the mountain with the others okay?" stammered Renkotsu back in response as he quickly sprinted away from his faithful mechanical partner to avoid anymore offers or questions.

"Gesh?" The half man half machine was left there staring after his brother in total confusion.

'_Geesh... What's wrong with Renkotsu? He can't be planning anything can he?'_

The long time that was spent by Ginkotsu starting to walk to the others, was spent by Renkotsu running. Perhaps it was lucky that he was a member of the Shichinintai or his strength and energy would have run out a long time ago.

_'This is stupid,'_ Ran through the bald mercenary's head. '_Just pull out his god damn jewel shard or kill the girl and there wouldn't be any fuss. I wouldn't have to go run all this way, and I wouldn't have to use these precious jewel shards that I stole from Kagome.'_

But he knew it was out of the question. He couldn't pull out Bankotsu's shards for a number of reasons. The first being that his young naïve leader was a whole lot stronger than him, as much as he hated to admit it.

The second being that no one, not even him the master strategist, would be able to put this off as an accident.

Also, he couldn't kill Kagome. He needed her trust. Even if this plan worked out and they were rid of Bankotsu, she would be a hell useful girl to have around, even if they were not working against that idiot.

She could help him work against Naraku, and everyone else out there! It felt within his grasp, finally, after such a long time of hopelessness. Soon, all of Japan would be his and no one would be able to stop him.

Plus, if he killed Kagome, then her lover boy Bankotsu would probably rip the jewel shards out of his throat for that, and that was _not_ something he wanted. This second life was too good to be ended right now.

Renkotsu sneered as he quickened his pace. If he was to make it to that village where the remains lay, then he would have to hurry.

_因為愛著你的愛　_

_Because I love what you love_

Bankotsu sighed. He had ran away from Suikotsu to get Kagome a gift and here he was sitting in the middle of the most beautiful clearing he had ever seen holding the prettiest bow for the most perfect girl.

Kagome.

With some luck and a bit persuading on his side, then he would have her all to himself by the end of the night.

He hoped that the doctor had gotten enough food so that it would look like he did some hunting too, when in reality, he didn't. Nah.

He had been making the bow and when he was walking back, he got so lost in daydreaming and thinking that he took the wrong path and ended up finding the clearing that he was in at the moment.

What was he dreaming and thinking about you ask?

Tonight.

He was going to tell her tonight.

In this clearing.

And he was going to present her with this bow if she accepted him. Hell he'd give it to her even if he rejected him but he had told himself that he must not think negatively.

When he had first found this clearing, he had swore loudly thinking that he might not get back to camp in time and immediately pivoted around on his left foot to leave again but something stopped him from doing so.

It was just so beautiful. He just couldn't bring himself to leave.

Like the wind was beckoning to him, motioning for him to stay. And like the stars that were staring to show overhead was guiding him here, telling him that if he wanted her, this would be the most perfect place to ask.

That sounds stupid, you might say. Yes, it was a field, just a field, but one that happened to be covered thoroughly in pink and white Sakura blossom petals and the leaves that grew along with the flowers. Behind a low wall of bushes to one side, there was the gentle sound of water, a river. The soft calls of the animals of the night blended with that sound made the perfect harmony in the background. On the opposite side, there was a small rock formation that looked and could function like a cave. The grey stone mixed with the pink and white of the blossoms was the perfect color combination. Everything was picture perfect...

And the night had to be too. It just had to be.

Of course, he had it all already planned out in his head. There could be no mistakes, no stumbles. He needed this night to be done right.

And as part of his plan, he decided to add a few things to the already beautiful field. In the middle, he added a fire, which had yet to be lit, surrounded by perfect little stones in a rainbow of colors that he had collected.

He knew she wouldn't be hungry after dinner, of course, so he had also gathered some berries and some fruit and had arranged them prettily beside the fire as well. A few thin cushions around the fire for them to sit on, and some roses made the scene even more perfect then before.

And Bankotsu being Bankotsu, he had decided to throw an extra futon into the cave like thing. Just in case anything was to happen...

The young Shichinintai looked up. The sun was practically gone now. He really should head back to the others before they started wondering where he went and what happened to him.

He slowly picked up his precious Banryuu and flung it onto his shoulder. Then he picked up the bow and put it on the futon inside the cave. He didn't want Kagome to see it just yet.

Running at a quick pace, he tore through the forests on the right path this time back to their cave hideout for the night. As he ran, the plan of what he would do came into his head. He needed to review it over one last time. Just to be sure.

After dinner was made and eaten, he would ask Kagome if she would walk with him. If she said yes, the he would lead her to this place. If she said no, then...ah he'll think of some excuse to blurt out to cover the embarrassment.

_'Must not think negative thoughts. Must not think negative thoughts.'_

While leading her, he would attempt to make some small talk with her, of course, none to betray his real intentions of this walk.

He still wasn't really sure how exactly he was going to tell her. Should he just blurt it out? Or should he tell her in a more decent way?

Bankotsu honestly had no idea. He had never loved a woman before. All the women before Kagome in his life were just tools to be used, somebody good to lie with. He had never felt anything for any of them whatsoever, so now, now that he had to tell a woman that he loved her, he was totally struck dumb.

And if she accepts, what should he say?

Or if she rejects him? What should he do then?

Panic started rising in his chest at those thoughts. Of course, he had planned it out so well that it felt instinctive that she would say yes, but on the rare chance that she should say no?

Then what?

_因為夢著你的夢_

_Because I dream what you dream_

Renkotsu looked around. In front of him was a small wooden hut. Behind him was a forest, with a low row of bushes in the foreground, all in the exact same shade of green. A white cloth lay in front of the hut, dirtied by the rain and weather since the time it was left there and an old looking bamboo bottle was left beside the bushes.

He was there.

The hut that they, the Shichinintai believed that their brother Mukotsu had died around. So if he died around here, the master strategist figured that his bones would be somewhere around here too.

Now only if he could find them...

He, like his o aniki, Bankotsu, had had his plan all planned out beforehand. He would find the skeleton of his dead brother and revive the old fat toad like man and ahem _persuade _him to give him some of his poison.

But it couldn't just be any old poison.

It had to be poison that could kill a man with the jewel shard embedded in his neck, a poison that a jewel shard wouldn't be able to get rid of. Renkotsu knew that this requirement was hard, and that his stupid fugly brother would probably resist, but he had that too, all planned out.

If needed, then the bald, younger man would tell Mukotsu that Kagome was alive, and was willing to see him, but that he would only take him to the priestess if he made the poison. That bribe, alone, should be enough to persuade the older man.

If by any chance, that _still_didn't work, then he would threaten to kill her, then him.

Renkotsu smirked. Yes, this plan was perfect. He was as sure as to get rid of his annoying brat of a leader by the next moon.

Digging through the branches of the bushes here and there, he managed to find something.

A skull.

Examining it closer, he found out that it was not just any skull, but Mukotsu's skull.

Mukotsu, whose help he will need.

With an excited yell, he kept searching, concentrating in that area. Before long, the pyromaniac had the complete skeleton of the poison master lying before him.

"Huh Mukotsu, how does it feel to be dead once again? And now, how do you feel knowing that I'm going to give you your life all over again. For the third time." he said

It was time to use the stolen jewel shards. Reaching into his haori and taking out the little glass bottle, Renkotsu took out a single shard and put it on his dead brother's neck.

The small pink, glittering fragment shone dully in the setting sun's light as the pyromaniac whispered while touching the skeleton's neck.

"Awaken, Mukotsu."

A low gust of wind blew that small clearing as bits of flesh began to form once again, covering the cold, white bones buried long ago.

The figure of a man was slowly filled out with the flesh, and the face began to take its form. Huge toad like eyes protruded from the face, and bloody red streaks appeared around them and on his cheeks. A wide mouth and a stout appearance finished off the look.

Renkotsu smirked. "Mukotsu." he said.

The toad eyes opened slowly to reveal tiny pupils, not unlike the ones that his companion had.

"Renkotsu no aniki?"

"How does it feel? To be alive again after dying after you were resurrected?" said the second in command with a slight sneer.

That fact seemed to have been lost to the poison stalker as he looked around, first at his surroundings, then at his hands, his body, and finally back to Renkotsu.

"Aniki...Did you bring me back?"

"No shit."

The fat man sat up slowly and looked around while he stuttered. "B-but why would you do that?"

"Because Mukotsu. I need you to make me a poison that will kill someone with a shard of the sacred jewel embedded in them. And I need this finished by tomorrow night."

"But Renkotsu no aniki!" wailed the fat poison master. "That kind of poison is almost near impossible to make! I myself am not sure how to make it!"

"Does it look like I care? Figure it out then."

"And why should I make it for you? What good do I get out of this?"

Renkotsu smirked. It had come to this. Looks like he really had to use his brand new imouto to persuade him.

"Well if my memory serves me correctly, then you had attempted to marry a woman named Kagome after you had poisoned her. Do you wish to see her again?"

"K-Kagome? You know where she is? I can see her again?"

"Only if you make me the poison. I know her exact location and only after you make me the poison will I take you to see her again."

"But Renkotsu no aniki! Do you have to be so cruel? Why can I not see her before I make it! How do I know that you will really take me to my beloved Kagome?"

A sinister smile made its way slowly onto the bald man's face. '_**Your**beloved Kagome huh Mukotsu? Well correction. Kagome is now both yours **and**__ Bankotsu's beloved Kagome. Good luck trying to win her heart against o aniki._

"You won't know until you make it now will you? But while we're on that subject, let me ask you a question. Have you been dead so long that you lost your trust in me? Your own brother?"

The fat toad like man's mouth visibly dropped open as he stammered to come up with a reply. When none came, Renkotsu assumed the worst and his smirk got even bigger.

"I'll take that as a yes then, Mukotsu."

Mukotsu gasped and stammered again.

"B-begging your apologies...O-of c-course I haven't! W-well in t-that case, I do know of one...But I will need a month to make it Renkotsu no aniki! It can not be finished in a mere night."

"Fine! Take your month to make it then; I will be back in a month to collect the poison."

"Wait! Are you just going to leave me here?" the fat man on the ground wailed.

"I am."

"And where are you going to go?"

"That is none of your business. But if you must know, then back."

"Back?"

"Back to the others and _Kagome._"

"Is there anything I can do to see her now!"

"No." Renkotsu said shortly as he turned and walked away from the clearing.

...

"Whoa where have you been Renkotsu? I thought you were going to collect firewood!" said Jakotsu the moment the bald man stepped into the entrance of the cave.

"Shut up! I was!" yelled back Renkotsu plopping himself onto the floor of the cave at the same time.

"Yeah? Where is it?" Bankotsu questioned. "I really don't see any wood right now."

"Err..."

_所以悲傷著你的悲傷　_

_Therefore I'm unhappy when you're unhappy_

Before long, dinner was roasting on top of a fire made from the wood that the others had made Renkotsu go back out and get. Of course, the pyromaniac had mumbled curses and had been grumbling all the way there and back, but at least he did it. The food that was dinner that Suikotsu had caught happened to be a few rabbits, a boar and a few fish. And it was enough to cover for Bankotsu.

_'Thank god'_the Shichinintai leader had thought the moment he saw the more than enough food.

Kagome and Jakotsu were currently sitting together, fixing each other's hair and digging through his makeup and trying it on each other, laughing and talking.

Suikotsu was sitting by the fire, occasionally moving a stick, replacing a log or poking at their dinner, which caused Renkotsu to raise his eyebrows from time to time. He was also very, _very_ relieved that no one thought that anything was up with him, that they thought he was acting normal.

Bankotsu was up against a tree, watching Kagome and thinking about his plan. Damn did she look perfect sitting there and laughing with his brother. He was just praying silently to all the gods, fates etc. that she would accept his feelings.

Two minutes later, or so that's what Kagome thought, Suikotsu was shouting out everyone's favorite phrase.

"Dinner's ready!"

Jakotsu and Bankotsu being Jakotsu and Bankotsu jumped up and raced to the food as fast as humanly possible, leaving Kagome and Suikotsu to laugh and shake their heads and Renkotsu to give his usual sinister smirk.

Dinner was interesting that night for Kagome. Never had she sat comfortably with these people let alone eat, so upon seeing it for the first time in that light highly amused her.

First there was Suikotsu, who was like her in eating. Proper, eating slowly in smaller careful bites, not dropping any food at all. No grease or any leftover food was left on his lips as he ate, and no residue was left on his fingers.

Then there was Renkotsu, who sat beside Ginkotsu who couldn't eat anyways. He, the pyromaniac I mean, took food between his chopsticks and never touched anything with his hands, not even when it came to picking out bones or eating a drumstick off the boar. He too, was as neat as Kagome and Suikotsu, but that was the end of neatness.

Jakotsu and Bankotsu stuffed their faces with anything they could reach, chewing and swallowing as quickly as they could. There was food everywhere from them and there were a lot of stains and bits of food on their faces.

After making these observations, Kagome shook her head and went over to Jakotsu, while pulling out a piece of cloth and wiping his face up with it.

"Don't be such a pig Jakotsu."

"Sorry." the gay man said with a mouth full of food. He swallowed.

"But this food is really good Kagome! You should have some more!"

She shook her head again. "You shouldn't eat that much Jakky, or you'll get all fat and no man would ever want you."

"Really!"

"Really."

"Well in that case, I'm not eating anymore!" and he shoved all the food away from him and towards Bankotsu, who took it and stuffed it down anyways.

Together, the six of them sat there while laughing and talking as they ate. Everything was going smoothly with no arguments breaking out and the priestess finally felt that she belonged with them, as she had felt she belonged with the Inu Tachi.

That is, until they got to the subject of Kagome and Jakotsu's friendliness.

"So tell us the whole story now, Kagome, Jakotsu?" said Suikotsu sitting down cross legged and leaning up against a tree.

"Okay." said Jakotsu. "Fine."

Kagome smiled and started "Well see, me and Jakotsu here have decided to put aside our differences and get along, since we have so much in common that we hid when we were arguing constantly with each other." followed by an energetic addition from Jakotsu

"Yeah! When O aniki sent me out to find where Kagome went, I found here poisoned or something and in a hole! And not to mention there was a bad ass demon there about to eat her up!"

"Right. So I look up, see Jakky here with his lovely sword and yelling at me not to move outta the way," the miko continued. "and not to mention he called me a wench." she mumbled angrily.

"Err…yeah about that imouto, I'm-"

"That's fine. No need to apologize as long as you don't call me a wench anymore."

"Oh. Okay..." said her crazy lipstick wearing brother, then getting a smart ...or what he thought was smart thought in his head, he added " If I can't call you wench, can I call you bitch?"

"Jakotsu!"

"Right. Sorry, sorry. Now continuing on with the story, I took Kags here to a village and found us a healer, who healed her. After I left her room to let her rest, I felt something pulsing in my neck, then everything went black and the next thing you know, I'm stuck in a cave with her laying beside me!"

"I still wonder who put us there though..." said Kagome looking with big innocent eyes at her brother who shrugged and said "Well...we'll figure it out somehow sometime later right?"

"Right."

"Yeah. And we were stuck in there for so long; there wasn't any food, no water, only a fire. Now I don't understand why a fire would be left there...but I'm really glad it was! Thanks to that and Renkotsu here we got outta that hole." Jakotsu finished

Kagome smiled and nodded. "So...I guess that's that. And... I was thinking, I mean, Jakotsu here already accepts me as his imouto, so I was wondering-"

"No need to wonder, I accepted you from the moment Jakotsu called you his imouto and while I was off hunting dinner, I found something that you might like." said Suikotsu and then he smiled, while holding out a gift for her, which smelled really nice, wrapped up nicely in a clean piece of white cloth...which was a big contrast to the next gift that was rudely shoved at her, wrapped up in a ripped up piece of sackcloth, by Renkotsu.

"Here. That's for you too."

Kagome's jaw dropped and she gave a little gasp at the sight of 2 presents being offered to her before she had the time to properly ask if they accepted her.

Which turned out to be a bottle of some sort with a note stuck on it. Being the smart one, the pyromaniac had written it knowing that none of his brothers would be able to read it, since they only knew the simplest words and he had written in the most complex words he knew. He also knew that Kagome would be able to read it, there was just something special about her, he just couldn't place what.

Kagome looked at the note and then gave a small uncertain smile. It had said that the bottle was for his present to her, which was still in the process of being made, but he had wanted to give the bottle to her right then as a sign of his acceptance to her.

Suikotsu's neatly wrapped present turned out to be much more satisfactory then Renkotsu's odd one, as it was a bouquet of roses, all in different colors ranging from pink, to white, to red, to multi-colored ones. Kagome loved the pale pink one on the sight and literally threw herself into the doctor's arms at the sight of it.

"That's so nice of you to get me flowers, and all these different colors too! Thanks so much!" squealed the modern miko, making all her brothers smile at her.

"Hah. Glad you like it imouto."

Kagome took one of the roses out of the bouquet and found that the thorns had been peeled off for her already, and stuck it in her hair.

Now all that was left was the one that loved her. All eyes turned to him as he took a deep breath and said "Kagome... I was wondering if you would come on a walk with me."

The said miko looked at the youngest of her new brothers with a shrug. "I guess so." which made Bankotsu grin and beckon with the hand that wasn't holding Banryuu towards the right, in other words up the mountain and into the forests that were up there.

"I wonder what he's going to give her that he can't give in front of us?..." said Suikotsu watching the retreating backs of their leader and their new imouto.

"Probably himself." muttered Renkotsu.

He got a glare in return.

...But little did he know how right he was...

_幸福著你的幸福_

_When you're in luck I share it with you_

Bankotsu was leading Kagome through a dark path, the same that he had walked through when he had accidentally stumbled upon the clearing. The two of them were keeping up a lively conversation and that pleased Bankotsu to no end.

"Hey. Where are we going Bankotsu?" asked Kagome suddenly turning to him with her big chocolate brown orbs shining in the sliver of the moon that had managed to passed through the canopy of trees above them.

"Hmm?" the young mercenary answered meeting her eyes with his blue ones. "Oh. You'll see in just a few seconds."

Step by step, the young pair walked on in perfect harmony down the road. A comfortable silence now surrounded instead of the lively chatter until the older teen turned to her and whispered

"Close your eyes."

Dark brown eyes looked at him with confusion streaked across them, but did as she was told and shut her eyes to the world. Kagome felt Bankotsu take her arm and started leading her somewhere. She didn't know where, or what he was planning to do with her, but she trusted him.

Like she did all her brothers.

And speaking of brothers, Bankotsu had been thinking. He was her brother now. Brothers weren't allowed to like their sisters...at least not in the way that he liked Kagome. Why did the world have to be like this?

He finally realizes that he loves her; finally ready to tell her, and all of a sudden, another obstacle crashes down on him. And this obstacle would take one hell of a time, if not impossible to get around.

But then again, say before she had become their sister, he had told her and she accepted, then wouldn't she have become their sister anyways? Was there so big of a difference in timing?

Oh well. It didn't matter. He had managed to ask her to walk with him, was out and leading her to the clearing anyways, so he guessed it was now or never. And he definitely picks now.

"Are we there yet?" Kagome's sudden question snapped him out of his thoughts and back to reality...and also to notice that they weren't walking anywhere at all.

He gave a small cheesy laugh and said "No not yet" and started walking, banishing all thoughts, positive or negative, happy or unhappy out of his head, concentrating only on where he needed to be leading her.

As they neared the clearing, a sweet, fresh smell hit Kagome's nostrils and she breath in deeply and sighed. Whatever it was, she loved it on the spot. Bankotsu noticed and smiled. '_At the very least she likes the atmosphere' _he thought.

Closer and closer they got, until they were standing at the very edge, the line of division between the trees and the fresh grass with flower petals. The moon now shone fully down on the cleared area, making a gentle light glow around every flower, every tree.

He lead her to the center, where the fire he had excused himself before to light was burning, where the fruit and flowers he had gotten laid and slid his hand down her arm to take hold of her hand.

This was it.

Bankotsu took a deep breath in to calm himself down and whispered "Kagome, open your eyes."

She obeyed him and lifted her eyelids to reveal her chocolate brown orbs.

She gasped at the place she was in.

It was so beautiful.

Slowly, with her mouth slightly opened, she managed in the midst of her awe to get out "Bankotsu...where...how in the world did you manage to find this?"

He smiled softly and said "I take it that you like it?"

"Very much. It's so beautiful."

"Then it suits you."

Kagome blushed and looked down. Right he had given her a compliment, but the tone of his voice was what made her blush. It felt like it had a big hint behind it, that it wasn't meant to _just_ be a compliment, but something more.

"How did you find it?"

"I was walking through the woods and I stumbled upon it. I made it look a bit nicer and now I took you here so I can share it with you."

"Thanks for sharing Bankotsu." she said with a lush smile on her face. "But I'm betting you didn't take me out to a place like this just so you can share it, or just for a walk am I right?"

"You are."

"So uh… why did you bring me here?"

Bankotsu leaned in a little closer and took hold of her other hand "Because..." he whispered

Her heart started to accelerate at how close they were together and a pink tinge began to appear on her face. "Because what?" she stammered.

A little closer.

"Because I wanted to tell you something."

A little faster heartbeat.

She swore that Bankotsu could've heard it by now. It felt like it was going to jump out of her chest at any given second. "What did you want to tell me?"

A gust of wind picked up some Sakura blossoms, along with Bankotsu and Kagome's long black hair and blew them at the perfect swirl around the two of them. But none of them noticed since they were so close, and since their eyes were locked on each other's.

Bankotsu slowly lifted his right hand off of her hand and slipped it slowly around her waist, making her turn bright red. As he spoke, he slowly tightened his hold on her.

"Kagome, I wanted to tell you that-"

He lifted his other hand as well and lifted it to join the other on her waist, also leaning in as close as possible to her with out letting their noses touch.

"I love you."

* * *

Okay. ANDDDDD CUT! Chappie OVER. AINT I MEAN? he said the BIG L WORD! Congrats 2 bankotsu there. So far, Mukotsu's been revived (again) by Renkotsu and Kagome is accepted into the schinintai.

Next chappie : But will she accept their leader? If she does, then what does it mean for them, and Renkotsu's plan. If she doesn't, then what will happen to her and Bankotsu?

IFFFF I get enough reviews 2 make me happy, Ill update VERY soon. but if i dont, then u guys r left with a HUGE LOVELY CLIFFIE! ...(evil me)

I aslo want to thank the people who favourite and alerted this story...

Also, (shouldve been up a bit right?) I wanna thank all the people that reviewed my story as follows:

x.xlittle.voodoo.dollx.x

xxblood.stained.rosexx

leilani daniels

mikey9109

demon prince-seshoumaru

xxbluewingsxx

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someone

anna

Inu-n-kag gurl

most unlikely angel

kittyb78

43InuAsha

cupid's tears

InuFanJinx

savewolf the angel of death

darkangel


	7. Heartache

Hi again. Its been a while since I updated so I made it a bit longer than the other chappies just to make it up 2 u guys . The song "holding your hand through life" continues in this chappie

NOW READ THIS: this is a BAN/KAG fic okay? so don't quit reading this story after you read this cahppie. everythings going 2 b all good when the story ends kk?

I wanna thank everyone who reviewed/alerted/favourited/read this story so far and i wanna especially thank InfiniteAffinity for being my beta/editor.

AND THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS NEEDED FOR NEXT CHAPPIE IS 210-215 ish. (and im sure u guys would wanna know what happens rite?) .

* * *

_Heartache_

_因為路過你的路_

_Because I walked the path you're walking_

"_Kagome, I wanted to tell you that-" _

_He lifted his other hand as well and lifted it to join the other on her waist, also leaning in as close as possible to her with out letting their noses touch._

"_I love you." _

_...I love you..._

She stared at him with that simple three word phrase echoing through her head.

_...I love you..._

He loved her?

Coming from Bankotsu, that was the last thing she had expected to hear. You know those situations where you dream up thousands of possibilities, but the actual one happens to be the only one you didn't think of? Yeah.

_I love you_

Okay. Maybe it was a little obvious that he was going to say something like that, from the tone of his voice, the way he was standing, how close he was to her...

_I love you_

But back to reality, what should she do? She honestly had no idea since well...she barely knew him! All she knew about him was what the villagers had told her about the Shichinintai and that hadn't been good.

But...Why would _he _of all people love _her_ though?

Kagome wasn't ashamed to admit it; ahe wasn't extremely pretty, and Bankotsu, being as hot as he is could have any girl he wanted...

Or maybe... it's because she can see the jewel shards! Maybe it's like all the guys that kidnap her and say she's needed to find shards...Maybe Bankotsu's just another Inuyasha, or another Koga. Now that was _not_ a reason that made her want him.

And speaking of that, what about Inuyasha? She knew that he had chosen Kikyou over her, but did that mean that she didn't love him anymore? Or that he didn't like her anymore? She wasn't so sure yet.

She looked down to the ground and quickly thought of what to say to the guy standing in front of her. Then, very slowly, she looked up to him and opened her mouth to give Bankotsu her answer.

"Bankotsu?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

He was looking at her with such hope in his eyes. In fact, so much that she could barely bring herself to say the next words. But taking a deep breath and forcing herself to look away, she managed to blurt her answer out.

"I-I can't..."

His face changed from that hopeful look he was wearing to a suddenly confused look. What did she mean by she can't? Was she rejecting him?

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Tears fogged up Kagome's vision but she blinked them away and met Bankotsu's blue with her chocolate, with a determined look, or maybe she was just determined to not show him that she was sad she had to kill his hopes...

"Bankotsu, I can't love you."

She regretted saying that at once.

Instantly after she had let those words escape her mouth, the young miko recoiled as if _he_ had spoken the words to _her_, and as if _she_ had been the one rejected; that look on his face was breaking her heart in two.

Vaguely, she felt him move a little bit away from her, maybe an inch or two, but she wasn't sure.

_So my worries were not all for nothing...She-she rejected me._

He slowly dropped his gaze and looked down to the floor as he removed his left hand from her waist while she tried to direct her line of sight back into his eyes, but he was refusing to look at her. He kept looking at the ground.

Lifting the other arm that was still loosely wrapped around her, she walked a little closer to him again, putting them back where they had started.

"Bankotsu," she choked out despite the tears that were beginning to fall. "I'm so sorry...I-I just don't know-"

But she got no further. His arm that has seemed so dead a moment ago had reached out for her again and his hand had slipped over her mouth.

Her large, brown eyes widened, while, his dark, black bangs covered his cerulean blue eyes, so she couldn't see them.

"That's fine Kagome. Say no more."

Before she even had a second to think of what to say to that, she felt the warm weight of his hand being removed from her face, and saw him pivot around so that he was fully facing away from her.

"Kagome, I understand. And I won't force you to do something that you don't want, or can't do." he said without turning back. She could hear the pain it had cost for him to say that laced in with a hard edge in his voice.

_I won't force you to do something that you don't want, or can't do._ So he just accepts his rejection like that? He wasn't going to ask her again or do something to prove his worth? He was just going to walk away?

That wasn't like the normal arrogant Bankotsu she knew...

She looked up and realized that she had been too busy thinking on his words to notice that he _had_ actually started to walk away; he had already made it halfway to the edge of the clearing without her noticing.

"Bankotsu," she whispered taking in the sight of his back and amazingly, he turned around. She had not expected him to hear her call his name, but apparently he did.

She also didn't expect him to talk, but that, he also did.

"Kagome. Can you...Keep this from the others? Please don't tell them...that I told you and you rejec-...err...what happened here tonight."

Without processing the words fully through her head, she instinctively nodded and he turned around again and started walking further away, with no sound other than the soft rustling of the grass.

Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. Why? She really didn't understand herself. All she knew was that he was walking away. His white figure was becoming smaller and smaller. Pretty soon, his shadow too would be gone.

But why was she so sad?

She wasn't the one that had been sent away. She wasn't the one that was being hurt. But why does it feel like she was the one getting her heart ripped out and stomped on right now?

Even he didn't cry, but she was? What was wrong with her?

He was...he was just another man.

But...she as her tears fell to the blossom covered ground a sudden thought crossed her head. This was _not_ just another man, but a man who loved her.

_'And the man that I rejected.' _

_因為苦過你的苦_

_Because I've felt your pain_

The wind was blowing gently through the trees, singing a sad, tear filled song while Bankotsu slowly trudged through the forest. It all seemed surreal, his admission, her rejection. He didn't know where he was going right now; he just needed some time alone, all by himself to think.

He loved her so much. So much that he would do anything for her.

Literally.

So much that his very heart was hurting right then.

So why did she not want him?

Why did it have to end up like this?

Why couldn't she have said yes, then right at this moment, they would be still in the blossom filled clearing doing things that he could only dream about.

_'No...I am not going to mope any longer.'_

But what could he do? She was off somewhere else, probably back at camp and laughing with his brothers now and he was walking alone on this abandoned trail with no one to talk to, no one to confide in.

And then, yet another thought slowly sunk in and clunked into place. She was not his. He couldn't be jealous every time some other guy came up to her anymore. Okay, he could, but he couldn't show it, or that he loved her.

If he could never show his feelings, then what was the point of having them?

There was only one thing he could do...

_'Yes, from this day forth, I'm going to forget about her. Forget about my Kagome, and the things we could have done together and all happiness we could have shared and...' _

He knew that doing this would hurt like hell, but he really didn't see any alternatives right now. This is what he needed to do, to save his sanity at the very least...and himself from Kagome if he accidentally let something out...

But...how long will he be able to keep it down before it came back and burst on him?

_'No! No mistakes!_ _I_will_ forget!'_

_所以快樂著你的快樂_

_Therefore I'm happy when you're happy_

Kagome stood there in the clearing for who knows how long, thinking about what had just happened. She was beginning to regret telling Bankotsu that she couldn't because to put it simply, now that she thought about it, it wasn't true.

She now thought that there really was something special in Bankotsu, which not even Inuyasha had, so she felt that she could've said something that wouldn't have decided her fate but wouldn't reject him either.

Something like: "Let's stay friends for now, to give me some time to think" or "I'm willing to give you a chance but don't take it too fast."

With saying what she had about "She couldn't", she knew that she had created a big emotional gap between them, and she also knew that it was going to take a long time to mend. Maybe she could go and ask him to be friends again...Yes, that's what she'll do.

He's probably at the cave with the other Shichinintai right now. She could probably go there and go ask him to talk, and then ask him to be buddies again.

Yes...That was a good idea...

With that thought in mind, Kagome slowly turned and walked back to their shared cave, with his single name taking over all her thoughts.

...Only to find that he wasn't there...

As she slowly entered the dimly lit cave, she saw her favorite aniki Jakotsu sitting there with a pot of lip paint and a mirror, his brows knitted together in deep concentration, as if he was deciding the best way to apply the make up.

Her good doctor aniki Suikotsu with a bunch of herbs and plants that he was sorting out and putting in jars and bags for when they travel again. Her creepy machine brother Ginkotsu and lastly, her suspiciously nice aniki Renkotsu sitting there screwing around with his glove, occasionally tugging a string here of pulling a piece of metal there.

Turns out, Suikotsu was the only one that looked up to greet her when she walked in as plants didn't take that much concentration to sort. He greeted her with a wide smile.

"Imouto." he said, while gesturing for her to sit down next to him. Of course, him calling her name got the other's attentions and Jakotsu instantly jumped up to pout.

"No! Imouto's sitting with me!" he whined "I need her to help me with this!" And he gestured towards the lip paint that was now on the floor.

Now normally, Kagome would've laughed, but today, her humor was on a definite all time low, so all she did was walk to the very back of the cave with a whispered "Sorry Jakotsu. I'm a little tired today."

Her four brothers traded slightly worried glances and thought back as a silence fell on the small cave. Where had she gone again? Oh right. The last time they saw her, she was happy and was about to be given something by Bankotsu. What the hell did he give her that could possibly make her, a person who seemed happy all the time, so sad?

And...Where was their leader now?

"Er...Hey imouto, wasn't o aniki with you? Where is he now?" said Renkotsu after a while, breaking the silence. He got no answer from her in return, but instead, a stifled sob that clearly stated to everyone that she didn't want to talk about it.

Jakotsu shot his brother a glare and went to put his arms around a crying Kagome. "That's okay Kags. You don't have to explain anything if you don't want to. Let's just get some sleep okay?"

She nodded in response and pulled the slasher down with her, then snuggled into his chest. Even he, the woman-(except-for-his-imouto)-hating Jakotsu had to admit, her snuggling up to him would've and did feel good, if it had not been for the trickle of tears that fell continuously onto his pink kimono.

_追逐著你的追逐_

_Chasing the dreams that you're chasing._

_Its been one month..._

One month of pain. One month of hell. One month of sadness.

Bankotsu was sitting alone in the cave they had found to take shelter from that night. He was, of course, the first one back from his job, which was to find fire wood. Now that he was alone, he was thinking, like always, about Kagome.

The past month, she had grown more mature, and more emotionally stronger. Along with that, to Bankotsu, she had grown even more beautiful. Everywhere she went Jakotsu would be with her, to protect her from anything he didn't like, whether it be a demon, or just some guy that was taking in her beauty

...Like that really klutzy guy they met in the last village who seemed to know her. He had ran up to greet her, but surprise surprise, was stopped by Jakotsu. Of course, she wasn't too happy that her aniki had tried to cut her friend up. Her friend...what was his name again? Aki...Akitoki was it?

Sometimes, he envied his third in command. He could be with Kagome whenever he wanted, he could talk with her, laugh with her, and she would share anything with him, do everything beside him.

Yes, he had vowed to himself that he would forget her, but the moment he came back to camp and saw her sleeping with Jakotsu, he began to love her all over again. It was unavoidable.

He had tried everything he could think of to forget, but nothing worked. Not even forcing himself to not talk to, or even look at her worked. She had tried to talk to him on more than one occasion, but he had stopped her, or turned away before she had gotten a single word out.

But it wasn't like he didn't want to talk to her; it was just that it hurt too much to.

He had noticed that she had gotten a little quieter during the past month as well. She seemed to be happy on the outside, but Bankotsu was pretty sure that he was the only one that knew she cried silently to herself at night, with her face facing away from Jakotsu so he wouldn't feel her tears down his kimono.

Every laugh, every smile, every touch, and every thing she did seemed to be half forced these days. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he couldn't. Plus, he was sure that she had told Jakotsu already, so he should go ask him.

Yes...that's what he'll do when the slasher comes back with Kagome on their job to get food.

For now, he'll just think of when her beautiful, high pitched laughter mixed with her smiling face wakes him from his daydream, when the very shilloute of her beautiful form sends him into another...more innappropriate one...

_因為拆不敢聽_

_Because I'm afraid to listen to your oath_

Dinner was cooked by Suikotsu again, and wasagain eaten up by mostly Jakotsu, as Bankotsu seemed to have no appitite these days. Right now though, well after dinner, Kagome sat with her back leaning against the wall of the cave, facing the fire while she was writing slowly and thoughtfully in her diary.

This time alone was precious to her, as Jakotsu was almost always with her. She didn't find it annoying; amazingly, as it was just like having a clone of herself to talk with, as he liked pretty much the same things as her. Same makeup, same type of guys. In fact, their most favourite topic to talk about was...Inuyasha.

But even so, they did argue a lot. A grand total of 57 times in the past month and she knew they were going to do some more arguing tonight. It was almost like their daily routine.

Her dear Jakotsu was currently deeper in the cave with Bankotsu, as the young leader had come up to them a little earlier on and said that he needed to talk alone with her gay brother. Not that she minded of course, but to her, that sounded a bit wrong because Jakotsu was, like mentioned before, gay.

_New Moon Night_

_Tonight is the new moon, Inuyasha's human night. Sometimes, I wonder where he is and what he's doing now, if he's happy or not. Even if it's not with me and with Kikyou._

_I've wondered before if I'll find the guy I'll be happy with?_

_I wish I had someone living...okay real, to talk to about all my mixed up feelings..._

_Like right now, since I'm feeling sad tonight..._

_Bankotsu's been avoiding me these past days since I rejected him. I won't admit it out loud to my brothers, but I really do miss the guy he was to me before all this happened. His smiles, his laughs, his kindness...and his love._

_Every night when the stars come out, I look up and make a wish. That things could all go back to what they used to be before all this happened. Before getting taken by the Shichinintai, before his confession. When I was back with Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara. Speaking of them, I wonder if they miss me like I miss them._

_But back to Bankotsu, I really want him to forgive me, even though I don't understand why. My heart gets all fluttery when I'm around him and it feels like I always want to see him. I mean, who wouldn't? He really is kinda hot. Oh and...I also think that he told Jakotsu that I rejected him, but I'm not sure..._

_Oh and speaking of Jakotsu, he has been really nice to me that is, if you don't count our 57 arguments. Sometimes, he kind of reminds me of Koga. _

_The others, Suikotsu, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu are all nice to me, but Renkotsu's niceness is...well in my opinion, a little fake. It has none of the sincerity that Suikotsu's or even Bankotsu's has. Of course, my dear Jakky's extra nice to me. We always curl up together, and I'm getting used to the warmth that my aniki gives me every night._

_He-_

"Hey imouto, whatcha writing?" asked a voice she had came to know really well, interrupting her train of thought and making her look up with a startled look while quickly slamming the book shut.

It was Jakotsu.

_'Looks like he's back from his private conversation with Bankotsu._'

"Oh...This is called a diary aniki. You write down all you thoughts and feelings in it so it's like a friend to you." she replied while holding her book to her chest, before realizing that her dear Jakotsu couldn't read.

"But...but why do you need a book for a friend that you can tell all your thoughts and feelings to when I'm right here?" her brother questioned her again.

She smiled her special smile and chucked a handful of rocks at him.

"Because I prefer the book as it's just so much better than you. Now go away. I wanna finish writing."

He laughed and sheilded himself with his long arms as the rocks hit him, but then turned serious as a part of the conversation he just had with his leader came into his mind. It was so rare for her to see her crazy brother looking so serious that Kagome put her book aside and looked up at him, her face matching the seriousness of his.

"Jakotsu, what is it? I never see you so serious."

He was silent for a few seconds, then shifted himself so that he blocked out all the light from the fire, casting her into the shadows so that she couldn't see his face. He then whispered so that no one except her could hear "Kagome. He still loves you. Think back on what you said and try to change it before he does something drastic."

And the, he moved to go back to the section of the cave in the back, so all the light came flooding back over her face again. But she didn't notice that. She was too busy thinking.

_He still loves you..._Kagome was actually glad to hear that, which surprised her...Becuase...maybe... she had learned to love him too...

_'I...I think I love him too...'_

_'I...I love Bankotsu...'_

_因為承諾不敢信_

_Because in your promise, I'm afraid to believe _

It was the dead of night.

Renkotsu silently sat up on his futon and peered over to his right side.

Good. Jakotsu and Kagome were both asleep, curled up into each other like the loving aniki and imouto they were. Without making a sound, he switched to peer over to his left side, and saw Bankotsu sitting up with his back turned to him, facing the wall and Suikotsu snoring away on the futon.

Not as good. For all he knew, his naïve leader might still be awake and might detect any sound that his movements_ might_ make. But if he wanted his plan to succeed, if he wanted to get rid of Bankotsu once for all, it was a risk he had to take. This was exactly one month from the evening he had revived Mukotsu and one month from when he had promised to come pick up the poison.

So, getting up as quietly as he could, he threw back his covers and pulled his armor on, then fastened his gourd to his waist and slipped on his fire gloves.

He tiptoed to the entrance of the cave and managed to slip out, with no movement from his companions other than a kick from Jakotsu to Kagome, which she quickly returned. Renkotsu shook his head a bit at his two immature companions as he walked out and when he saw his sleeping mechanical buddy, Ginkotsu.

Better not wake him up, or that might lead to questions that he didn't want to answer. Therefore, still without a sound, the pyromaniac ran quickly into the forest, and to the destination he had in mind. The hut that he had left his second time revived brother Mukotsu in.

It didn't take a lot of time to get there, considering that they were pretty close to the waterfall that Jakotsu and Kagome had been trapped in a few weeks back. He was hardly even breathing hard when he saw the hut coming into view.

"Mukotsu!" yelled the pyromaniac when he got there and was standing in front of the bamboo mat , covering the door.

"You got the poison all good and done yet?"

There was no answer.

"Oi! Mukotsu!" he yelled again and he walked in to the hut. A vein instantly popped out of his head at the sight that greeted him; the fat toad like man was sleeping, with a huge disgusting pool of drool coming from his mouth and dripping onto the floor.

Sick.

Renkotsu walked to Mukotsu and kicked him, good and hard in the side, which instantly woke him up.

"Huh? Oh...Is that you Renkotsu no aniki?"

"No...Now where's the poison I asked you to make a month ago?"

The poison master sat up and attempted to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Oh...uh...I have it right here." he replied with a huge yawn to the question his brother had just asked him and pulled a small glass bottle out of his pocket.

Taking it in his hands and examining it, Renkotsu smirked a sinisterly.

Awesome.

Now, all he needed was to slip the poison to his asshole leader and his plan would be well on its way.

"Um, aniki I made this in a rush so-"

The pyromaniac turned to face the other man "It matters not. I have the poison and that is what I wanted."

"Uh.. Renkotsu no aniki?"

"What?"

"...I made you the poison like you wanted me to" replied Mukotsu "So can I see Kagome now?"

"No. Stay here and never leave until I come get you again."

"What? But you promised that if I-"

"Shut up! I have half the mind to kill you right now, but as I might have further uses for you, I will keep you alive." said Renkotsu, turning around and pocketing the poison bottle.

"But be warned. Do not try and escape this place, for if you do, I will not hesitate to return you to the grave." he added as he walked out, leaving the fat poison master there with a horrified and confused look on his face.

_所以放心著你的沉默_

_So with no worries held in your silence_

Bankotsu opened his eyes.

He knew that Renkotsu had left the cave.

Sometimes, the young leader thought that his second in command was extremely smart, but others, he wondered why he even appointed a person with a brain the size of a pebble his second in command. But in this case, the pyromaniac should've known that he, _the leader_, at the very least, would know if he left in the middle of the night.

And why would he be doing that?

If he had something to do, then couldn't he have done it during the day?

And what was so special about what he was doing that he couldn't tell anyone?

Getting up a whole lot quicker and a whole lot quieter than Renkotsu had done just a few hours earlier, Bankotsu walked without a sound to where the flame user laid then looked down at him and instantly, the young leader knew he was hiding something in his shirt.

What an idiot, making it so obvious.

Bankotsu reached his hand into the other man's haori, closed his hand on whatever that was and pulled out... a bottle, filled to the brim with some blackish liquid.

With a quick sniff, he instantly knew what it was.

Poison.

And namely, Mukotsu's poison.

Hm...Poison...

He suddenly got an idea into his head. Kagome loved Koga or Inuyasha or who ever, and Bankotsu loved Kagome. He had a great idea. To end this love triangle, he could just get out of her life. Like literally get out of her life,

While grabbing a small jar of sake, he pocketed the bottle and walked over to where Kagome was hidden within Jakotsu's long limbs and flowing kimono. With some difficulty, he managed to extract the priestess and was able to look, for the first time in a long while, at her beautiful face making His usual rush of emotions that he felt when he saw her kicked in.

What would you have done?

He shook his head and took her in his arms, while wrapping her up in an extra blanket along the way. Bankotsu carried her in bridal style, and slowly walked out the cave's exit. Together, they walked to a large rock and sat down on it. Bankotsu on the rock, Kagome arranged comfortably in his arms.

The gentle wind was stirring up a slight breeze and the stars were out, full and bright that night; even he had to say they were beautiful. But not as beautiful as the young woman in his arms. As he looked down at her, he felt an emotion that he had never felt before.

The need to cry.

But he couldn't cry. He was a man, and men don't cry. Not only that, he was the leader of a famous and skilled band of mercenaries. He shouldn't feel like crying. He shouldn't even feel the need to cry.

"Kagome...Are you really in love with Inuyasha orthat wolf demon?" he said quietly to her sleeping form.

"That's fine if you are. Really, I mean, I don't own your life right?"

He reached down and touched her milky white face while taking a deep breath, to get himself ready for his next sentence.

"There's something I thought I should tell you before I…leave tonight...I never really stopped loving you." His eyes started to tear up a little, and tried to blink the tears back.

"I only avoided you all the time because I just didn't want to be hurt by you again...and, I only wanted you to be happy, so I didn't force you to try and have a conversation with me..."

_Is this what true love really is? When you would do anything, give up anything to be with her, and when she's not there, it feels like nothing's worth it anymore?_

"I'll never stop loving you, and I'll always be there somewhere with you at the time when you most need someone." He looked down at her face and carefully stroked it.

He half laughed a short laugh, attempting to make the mood more cheerful. "So I guess that's it Kagome. I'll see you when we both get to the afterlife...again…"

_Or maybe not as I'm going straight to hell, and she straight to heaven._

With that last declaration of love, he slowly planted a soft kiss on her lips, their first one together, and also their last, before he went inside, slipped her back into the covers with Jakotsu.

He then turned and left the room without another word.

_服明天的命運_

_Convinced in tomorrow's destiny_

Yet another morning dawned on the sleeping Shichinintai members and Kagome. Once again, they found that their leader wasn't there with them, and to Kagome, this was a big deal. She had figured last night before she fell asleep that today, he would ask Jakotsu to ask Bankotsu to meet her at the clearing where he had confessed, since he wasn't talking to her. There, she would tell him that she now loved him too, and ask him for a chance like he did, if he still loved her.

But what was the point of her plan if he wasn't even here today?

Where did he go? Is he okay? Kagome was worried. She now knew what it felt like to love someone, like really love someone and have them away from you, without knowing at all when they would return. THe anxiety, the worry, the pain, the fear.

And she missed him.

"Hey Jakotsu?" she said looking over up and to her right to her favorite aniki, well after Bankotsu. "I'm going for a walk around here okay? But don't come with me. I want some time alone."

"What? No!" her brother instantly replied "What if something attacks you? Or-or...some pervert stares at you? Or-"

But his rant about his Imouto's safety was cut short by her hand over his mouth, silencing him.

"It's okay Jakotsu no aniki. I'll be fine."

"Fine then. I'm too tired to get into an argument right now, so go." he replied with a hmph. "But that doesn't mean I like it."

"Don't worry. Nothing's going to happen to me." she said while walking to the entrance of the cave. "Stay here."

Kagome walked out and into the forests of feudal Japan. Listening to the birds, watching baby animals, everything was interesting. When she saw a single sakura petal float down in front of her, she suddenly remembered the clearing.

_The clearing_

She turned around and ran. She didn't know the way, but she knew where she was going. To hers and Bankotsu's special clearing.

Out of breath, panting and red, she got there.

When she stepped into the clearing, she saw that it was still covered in sakura petals, and looked just as beautiful as the first time she's seen it. Also, she saw the very guy she wanted to see, sitting with his back against a large rock that she hadn't noticed the first time that she went there with him. His eyes were closed in a relaxed way.

She smiled. "Hey Bankotsu." Kagome said as she approached him,

But something was really wrong...The closer she got the paler and more lifeless he appeared.

"Bankotsu? Are you okay?" she said as she reached him. The miko reached out her hand and touched his shoulder.

He was _cold._

Kagome's eyes widened a little. But today was such a nice day! He shouldn't be cold...She trailed her hand from his shoulder to his neck, where a pulse would be.

Placing her second and third fingers at that point, she waited and hoped.

There wasn't a pulse.

She knew since he had already died once or twice before there shouldn't be one any way, but this was different. There wasn't any sense of life, or any bit of energy radiating from him.

No power.

No warmth.

Nothing.

"Bankotsu?" she whispered looking at what was laying before her very eyes, not believing it.

"Bankotsu!"

AND the chappies over! . Kagome has REJECTED our poor bankotsu and he's trying 2 forget her. ( I didnt want this story to be like all the other ones where its lik confession, then they always accept each other ) She realizes that she loves him, and wants to tell him, but she finds him in that clearing and thinks that he's DEAD. dun dun dunnnnn... The second of the trials i mentioned in the summary...as kagome/jakotsu stuck in the cave was the first..

NEXT CHAPPIE: Now it's Kagome's turn to do some forgetting, as she thinks that bankotsu died. Will she be able to do it, or will she fail like Bankotsu did to forget her. And if she can forget him, what will happen to her and the shichinintai, but if she can't, then what will she do as a last attempt to forget?

NOW reviews needed r 210-215 ish, so be good and review and u'll get the next chappie .

Here's everyone that reviewed my last chappie, and who i thank alot .

kittyb78

my black crimson rose

hiya couldn't find a name

jillion tealleaf

sesshy-n-kag gurl

cream-bunny156

psychogurl0o

Xx.blood-red-mist.xX

mikey9109

AngelNight101

yuti-chan

DeathNoteMaker

Bankotsu's sexy bunny girl

Cupid's Tears

sarayuy06

luna elisabeth bowman

kiari12321

kayleen

deidaraluver206

chocolate-mocha

xxbluewingsxx

siLvEe-SnOw-KitsUnE


	8. Rain

WOW

Its been such a long time since I updated this story . i guess the first thing i should do is APOLOGIZE! im so srry that i havent writtten for so long but i did have lotsa issues that include but are not limited to:

my pet dying.

my computer breaking down and having 2 b reformatted and me losing everything saved. TWICE (shouldve learnt from the first time...but NOOO...)

major exams

etc.

So once again, Im sry 4 not writting for so long.

Now. I will say my usual thanks to everyone who reviewed, alerted or fav-ed this story so far, and an especially big thnx 2 my beta/editor **InfinniteAffinity.** Thnx. .

REVIEWS NEEDED 4 THE NEXT CHAPPIE ARE...lets say...235-240 ish.

Happy reading!.

* * *

_Rain_

沒有風雨躲得過　

_No wind or rain can be avoided_

"_Bankotsu?" she whispered looking at what was laying before her very eyes, not believing it._

"_Bankotsu!"_

Kagome stared

She was in total shock. There was no way this way happening. There was no way that Bankotsu would be dead. It took the region's ruling lords their very best armies to take him and the rest of the Shichinintai down, so it was impossible that he would die just sitting here like this. There was no way that he wouldn't die standing up on his feet.

This all had to be a joke. _Yes, a joke._ she thought as she smiled and let a little laugh escape her lips. "Very funny Bankotsu." The young miko said while giving his shoulder a little shake. "But get up right now because I need to talk to you."

When she called him, Kagome was sure that he was going to wake up and flash his infamous smirk at her. He was going to ask her if she missed him. He was going to laugh at her worried face while telling her she was an idiot for doubting him.

But he didn't.

He didn't wake up.

He didn't smile at her.

He didn't even _move_.

So of course, as anyone would've been, the young miko was a bit surprised.

"Hey Bankotsu, what are you doing out here anyways and why is there black stuff on your chin, hm?" she asked again. "I mean, I know you're a messy eater and all, but..."

And still, she received no answer from the mercenary.

"Bankotsu, this really isn't funny anymore." She whispered to him as she reached her hand down to touch his wrist. Maybe she just got the spot wrong when she checked to see if there was a pulse in his neck.

Maybe he did have a pulse after all.

Maybe his wrist would have one and prove all her suspicions wrong. So, Kagome closed her eyes and hoped with all her heart once again.

But...5 seconds passed and there wasn't a pulse.

10 seconds

20 seconds, and still, nothing.

The miko slipped her arms around his shoulders. "Bankotsu? Please… Wake up" she pleaded with him. "Wake up…Please….Bankotsu…"

However, it was no use, as no matter how she pleaded him, she could not get him to open his eyes. Tears started to run down her cheeks, of frustration and sadness. It was still too much to believe that this was really true. _Her_ Bankotsu couldn't really be dead.

_But why? Why is he dead? _Kagome thought with a little sigh of fustration as she got up and touched the rock he was leaning against. It wasn't actually that big, now that she was up against it. She trailed her hand along the rock, she found that the other side had an opening in it, just big enough for a person to go through.

She was curious, a rock with a hole in it? So, she stuck her head into the hole only to find that it was not a rock at all, but a small cave of some sort with a single futon in it. And on top of the futon was the most beautiful bow and quiver she had ever seen in her life, carved with great skill.

The miko looked at the weapon more closely. With what Kaede had taught her, she knew that it was made with the best wood around in this part of Japan during the feudal era...and carved onto the wood was a single rose and…._her _name.

She gasped, then Quickly scrambling into the cave, she picked the bow up, and then turned her attention to examine the quiver. It too, had something carved on it: the character for courage and inside of it was a little roll of paper. Kagome reached in, took it out, and unrolled it. It was written in loose, messy writing that she had never seen before, but from the fact that her name was written inside a heart and that the whole note was filled with grammar and punctuation mistakes, she could guess that Bankotsu wrote it.

She never knew that he could write albiet the mistakes…And she also didn't know he was so romantic…

Feeling as if she would rather not read what he wrote just yet, she pocketed it and left the cave still hanging onto the bow and quiver. Then, Kagome dropped back down in front of him and stared into his relaxed face as she took his hand in hers. Her fingers ran along his strong, calloused hands and felt every bump and scar that had been put there by his years of being a mercenary. She kept this motion in a pattern; more bumps, more calluses, more blisters, more-...What was that smooth feeling? She bent her head down to look.

It was a glass bottle. Not only that, but half filled with some black liquid, the exact same black liquid that was on Bankotsu's chin.

Once again, her curiosity took over. She wanted to know what that black stuff was, so Kagome opened the bottle and sniffed at it. Almost instantly, she pulled back her head in disgust; this was a smell that she would know anywhere. It was the smell of the poison Mukotsu had used on her a couple months back.

This liquid was poison; and if there was poison on Bankotsu's chin……The young priestess's eyes slowly widened in horror as she realized the truth of what had happened. She opened her mouth and let out a scream.

Kagome was in total shock. Thoughts were racing through her head so quickly she barely had time to register what any of them meant. _I-I never thought- that Jakotsu was actually serious last night when he said he might do something drastic! Oh no…What should I do now? What should I do? What should-wait…Jakotsu! I have to get him! I have…I have to… _

She slowly got back up to her feet as she realized what she had to do. Get Jakotsu here. And fast. Nothing else matters. Not herself right then, not the bow that she still had slung over her shoulders, not even the flicker of a jewel shard that she seemed to be sensing nearby. She had to do it. Turning around and backing away slowly, she started to run.

Run. The forest passes by her so quickly. Her mind was blank.

Run, but why does the hideout seem no closer? Why couldn't she concentrate on anything else?

Run, to make it to where she needed to be. Her legs could go no faster; they were screaming in pain already.

Run, right into-

_沒有坎坷不必走_

_No ill fate can be passed by_

Renkotsu was watching her.

The instant Kagome had left earlier that morning, he had made up some bullshit excuse about going to the hot springs and had followed her.

Why? Because the pyromaniac knew that Bankotsu had taken the poison from him last night. When the Shichinintai's second in command woke up and found out that said leader and the bottle were gone, he couldn't help but smirk. Bankotsu drinking the poison himself played right into his plan. Lastly, he knew why Kagome was going out for a 'walk' and why she end up here in this clearing. She too, had fallen for their o aniki and was about to go confess.

Only to find him dead.

_Poor Imouto, getting all worked up about o aniki. Here I was worrying about how I could give the poison to that idiot without making it look suspicious and he actually goes and gets it himself and even drinks it down willingly. This is awesome. This is just too perfect! This is-_

Wait! Bankotsu…He…he was-

No! But it couldn't be!

The pyromaniac's eyes widened a little in confusion as he brought his head forwards and looked carefully at his leader, whom his imouto was currently trying to wake up. A disbelieving gasp slipped out of his lips. This wasn't how it was supposed to turn out! He had asked Mukotsu to make this poison especially for him and because he had, it should work perfectly. But why didn't it? Why?

Suddenly, he felt the presence of another person in the clearing other than Kagome and Bankotsu. He could no longer stay here in fear of being discovered, then questioned if the person coming was one of the Shichinintai. And as he had no wish of being interrogated right then about what he was doing, he turned swiftly without any sound and left his hiding spot.

While Renkotsu was running back to the cave to join the others, he narrowed his eyes in thought as he searched through his brain for answers. He was at a loss, until he was just a few hundred meters away from the hideout. Then all of a sudden, his eyes widened in total horror as he thought back to just last night when he went to get the poison from Mukotsu.

"_Um, aniki I made this in a rush so-"_

_The pyromaniac turned to face the other man "It matters not. I have the poison and that is what I wanted."_

The poison master had said that he had made this poison in a rush. That's why it didn't work the way it was supposed to.

That's why.

_所以安心的牽你的手_

_So I take your hand with no worries_

It was a bright and sunny morning, but unfortunately, it didn't match anyone in the Inu-Tachi's mood. Also, where they were right then really was not helping to lighten the mood either. They were walking along a narrow mountain path where weird plants, which Kikyou had defined as poison ivy, grew in abundance.

There was no sign of animal life, yet the trail looked as if it had been used recently. The bottom of that mountain looked as if there used to be water flowing down and over it very recently, but had somehow dried up almost instantly. There was a cave halfway up on a sheer face of the mountain that had bits of debris and small rocks littered all around the entrance, as if they had been blown up by something explosive.

In short, it was a strange place.

So far in the past month, they had found only one more shard to add to their collection, but it had cost them a few major injuries to obtain, not to mention some minor cuts and bruises. Of course, finding the shard was great, but still, they had not found what was really important.

Kagome.

She had left them a month ago with quite a lot of problems on their hands. The first, and maybe the source of most arguments these days, was the fact that she had purified Inuyasha's demon side with no telling when he would return back to normal.

Nothing they tried worked, not even Kikyou had been able to reverse her reincarnation's spell. So, the poor hanyou was stuck in human form.

"I wonder when we're going to find Kagome," said a sad little Shippo, rubbing his eyes."I miss her and Inuyasha's complaining is getting annoying." He was very lucky for the fact that said half demon turned human was currently deep in conversation with Kikyou, so he didn't hear the fox's comment and come give him a few good punches.

Sango smiled a small smile "Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine"

"But it's been such a long time since we've last seen her. And she's with the _Shichinintai_ too! How do we know that they're not gonna do anything to her?"

"We don't Shippo," said Miroku, seemingly coming out of some kind of deep thought. "But we can hope at the very least, that she is safe."

"Mew" Kirara added her input.

A few meters in front of them, Inuyasha suddenly shouted out to them that there was a nice clearing right up ahead and that they should take a rest. Normally, it wouldn't be Inuyasha who called for rest stops, but as mentioned just before, the hanyou was no longer a hanyou, but a mere human now. Also, even though the others didn't know it, Inuyasha and Kikyou had thought they sensed human presence in the clearing.

"Damn Inuyasha. He's taking more rests now than we used to ask him for," muttered an annoyed demon slayer as she, the monk, Kirara and the kitsune broke into a run to catch up with the priestess and the hanyou.

The monk nodded in agreement while looking down, counting on his fingers. "I'd have to say that it's the third time already and it's not even mid morning yet."

"We're never gonna find Kagome at this rate" whined Shippo.

"Unbelievable. And he was the one that was going on and on about how humans are pathetic and slow, and here he is taking rests and forcing us to take them along with him."

"Oi! I can hear you guys!" shouted a pissed to the high heavens Inuyasha, having just overheard the last bit of their conversation. "Even though I'm human I'm still not as pathetic as you idiots are! I can last plenty longer than you!"

"Sure Inuyasha, Whatever you say," said Miroku, a huge sweat drop slowly making its way down the monk's head. Then all of a sudden, said monk stiffened and held his weapon at the ready.

"Miroku?"

"Hush Shippo. Can you feel that?"

Inuyasha stood still for a second, and then he too, stiffened. "Yeah, that bastard Naraku's aura."

There wasn't alot of time to spare, so the once upon a time hanyou hurridly told Miroku, Sango, and Shippo about the presence that he and Kikyou had sensed earlier in the clearing. Then, I think it would be safe to say it was quickly decided that Inuyasha and Kikyou were going to go off and check out the 'bastard Naraku's' presence, while the others went to check the clearing. It would have been the other way around, but Inuyasha had constantly argued that he was stronger and could last longer than any of them. Too tired and annoyed to argue back, they agreed, although reluctant.

It turned out to be the right decision, for not even 5 minuets after Inuyasha and Kikyou left, a big black, green and white blur ran right into Miroku.

And knocked him down, much to the monk's embarrassment.

It was Kagome.

_不去想該不該回頭_

_Without a thought of whether or not I should turn back_

Jakotsu slowly walked out of the cave that they had been staying in the previous night. After his imouto had left to go on her walk, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep properly, in fear of her being kidnapped or ambushed or any other number of things that could happen to a girl walking alone in the forests. So, might as well not sleep and go for a walk of his own to clear his head of bad thoughts that were beginning to worry him until Kagome came back.

The slasher was walking with his eyes closed and head thrown back slightly in what people would see as a lazy, relaxed way not much different from his o aniki. His Jakotsutou was slung carelessly over his shoulder and his pink and green kimono flowed calmly around his legs in the cool breeze.

As a way to help clear his head of his imouto, he was currently thinking about none other than Inuyasha. _Puppy ears hey?..They look so soft and fuzzy. How I long to just take a nibble, a taste of them! I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I see him then, to make sure I don't damage those precious ears or get any blood on them, though I do wonder what colour Inuyasha's is. They're probably a nice deep shade of rich-_

**_Smack!_**

Jakotsu's eyes flew open. His hand flew to his Jakotsutou. He was ready to kill whatever had ran into him on the spot. A look of close inspection revealed that the person was only-

"Calm down Jakotsu. It's only me." growled Renkotsu while rolling his eyes.

Said slasher's eyes widened in surprise at running smack into his brother. "Renkotsu no aniki! You're back! Was the hot springs nice?" _Are you _sure_ a bath would take _that_ long?_

"Yeah I'm back. But no the hot springs weren't that nice in my opinion." _Of course, my bath wouldn't have been that long. If Jakotsu asks me where the springs were, I'm screwed._

_"_Oh really?" _Huh. Wonder what springs you went to if it took you that long and you still aren't clean. There's bits of dirt on your hands and leaves in your head cloth Renkotsu no aniki… _

"Yes."_ This doesn't look suspicious does it Jakotsu?_

A short moment of silence followed this short exchange of words as the two brothers walked side by side back to the cave. But then, all of a sudden when he spotted a small book that was lying by a big yellow backpack just in front of the cave, all the worry for his imouto came back to Jakotsu.

"Hey Renkotsu? Have you seen imouto?" _This feels suspicious._

"Kagome? Oh no I haven't seen her at all since this morning." _Of course it feels suspicious! I should've thought of a better thing to say then going to the hot springs And to add to that, my plan backfired on me!_

"Aw…What about Bankotsu no o aniki? Have you seen him?"_ Where did you go last night Renkotsu? You weren't the only one that was awake!_

"Oh..um no! I haven't seen him either." _Shit! Since when did you get so smart Jakotsu! This sucks big time! My plan is not going at all well and to make it all worse, the poison didn't work out either! Damn it! I should've listened to Mukotsu when he said that he made it in a rush! Looks like I have to go back to that fat ass and teach him a lesson._

Why you ask, did he need to go teach Mukotsu a lesson? Simple.

The poison hadn't worked; Bankotsu was alive.

But…Kagome didn't know that

And Renkotsu wasn't about to tell her or Jakotsu anything.

_Time to think of another not suspicious way of getting rid of that idiotic asshole Bankotsu._

_也許牽了手的手_

_If the hand that I hold yours with_

Kagome was reunited with Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Kirara after running smack into said monk. Of course they had been extremely surprised, and of course they had accepted her back, but they had totally bombarded her with questions of if she was okay, or if the shichinintai did anything bad to her, and such.

And it was then, during the piles of questions and answers that the modern miko had found out that Inuyasha and Kikyou had gone off after Naraku. _Alone._

But to everyone's utter surprise, she didn't even seem to care. She didn't seem hurt, she didn't seem betrayed at all. Sango could only come up with one answer to this: Kagome had fallen in love with another person already. However, the question now that the taijiya had realized that the miko was yet again in love, the question always on her mind was: who was there to fall in love with? Certainly not one of the band of seven; and Kagome had not said a word about anything that had happened while she was with them yet, despite their frequent questioning.

They would question her.

She would stay quiet, or change the topic.

They would question her again.

She would smile and turn away.

Things continued on in this fashion for a while longer until eventually, they gave up. They decided to just let her tell them when she was ready, since they weren't getting any answers at all this way. Also, there was another thing. Although Miroku, Sango, and Shippo didn't let her know, they were secretly very worried about Kagome.

She was not the once cheerful and positive girl that they had once knew. Instead, in her place was now a quiet woman with a figure that increasingly got thinner, as she started to refuse food, as her love had when she rejected him. Her big brown eyes had most of it's warmth and emotion, those factors now rarely showing up for the briefest of a second, and only when someone mentioned the shichinintai.

But none of them had picked that major hint up.

The five of them had been camping out in a small clearing near the one that meant so much to Kagome and Bankotsu for a day and a night, deciding that they would wait for Inuyasha to return. But the time ran out, and they had not returned yet, so the remaining of the InuTachi decided to set out. In search of them.

So, currently, the five of them that were there were on the road again, walking down a light brown dusty path.

Kagome, like her favourite Jakotsu no aniki and her love, Bankotsu was walking down the road with her eyes closed and her head thrown slightly back. However, unlike her brothers, she had none of the casual swagger, the laid back feeling that they had.

It was only sadness, exhaustion and despair around her.

Why was she exhausted you ask? Kagome's thoughts were swimming around in her head as she walked alongside her friends. _Every time I close my eyes, all I see is him. Kind of makes it difficult to get any quality sleep around here. _Thought Kagome with a small sigh, for try as she might, she could not forget about her Bankotsu and everything that he had been to her. _I feel so bad I wasn't able to tell any of the other Shichinintai about him before I left. I wanted so much to go back, I tried so hard to go back, but I was always stopped by one of my friends questioning where I was going, or by my own stupidity as I don't know where they are now._

The dirt floor under her suddenly shifted. Then it sank back to its original place.

True, Kagome was feeling slightly nauseous and her head did feel a bit heavy, but she only thought that it was due to the heat, and nothing more. Therefore, she had rejected all of Miroku's suggestions that they should stop and let her rest.

The modern miko sighed again and returned to her thoughts. _I guess I should feel bad, I mean, the people that my friends are set out to find and destroy at the moment are my friends as well. Not only that, they even accepted me as their imouto. And to top it all off, they're the most feared band of mercenaries in a few good decades!_

The floor under her all of a sudden shifted again and she swayed slightly, trying to keep her balance.

"Kagome-sama?" asked a slightly concerned Miroku once again, who had seen her sway slightly on the spot. "Are you sure you're okay? We can stop and take a break if you want."

"Oh. No. It's fine Miroku-sama. It's probably just the heat getting to me."

The monk accepted this as an answer, and they were off in silence again.

A few minutes later, she was beginning to think that this was a little more than just the heat. But even as she tried to deny it to herself, she couldn't shake the feeling of sickness that was tearing through her body. It was just getting worse and worse.

The sound of Miroku and Sango talking. The sound Kirara's paws made on the dirt floor. The sound of Shippo's toy snake as he fumbled around with it. To Kagome, it had all been maginified.

"Kagome-sama. I think we better take you to a healer." Miroku's voice rang out to her even though he was standing a few good feet away from her.

"Its alright Miroku-sama. It's just the heat and nothing more. It should be gone by-" But what she was just about to say about when it should be gone by, they never found out. For suddenly, a feeling of déjà vu crept over Kagome as a familiar darkness surrounded her mind, and as strong arms surrounded her body.

Once again.

_前生不一定好走_

_Our last life might not have been good_

The sound of a bird's call.

A feeling of cool mountain wind gently blowing against his face.

The feeling of soft blossoms and grass under him; the feeling of a solid, warm rock behind him.

_Where am I?_ he thought, _The first time around, I never got to a place like this when I died._

Bankotsu, leader of the band of seven slowly opened his eyes. He was in a clearing, surrounded by flowers and trees and the smells of a normal fresh morning. The teenager blinked. Why did this seem so familiar to him.

He racked his brains in search of an answer, which was hard as his brain seemed to have turned into mush. _What am I doing out here? Why does this place seem so familiar to me? Why does this- _his train of thought stopped right there.

His eyes widened.

This was the clearing. The clearing that meant so much to him and Kagome. It was where he confessed, where he was rejected, where he drank the poison, where he..died?

_Wasn't I supposed to be returned to the grave a second time?_ Thougt Bankotsu as he looked around. Everything felt the same, everything looked the same. The little glass bottle half filled with poison was still lying beside him. The little cave in which he put a futon earlier on was still behind him.

Speaking of the cave, the shichinintai leader slowly got up and walked around to the opening of the small cave. He looked inside. For the second time in a minute, his eyes widened. Again.

"What the hell? Where did the bow go?" he questioned angrily with a hint of confusion. This was the special bow he had made Kagome!…Kagome…

Although when he asked that question he expected no answer to be given but to his utter surprise, he heard a voice so familiar to him that he could recognize it anywhere give him an answer, surprising him right out of his wits.

"What bow Bankotsu no o aniki?"

也許有了伴的路

_And if I have a companion to walk this road with_

It was so warm, so comfortable.

Kagome sat up slowly and looked around. She was feeling quite a bit better than the last time she was conscious and now, she realized that the small wooden room she was in was totally empty except for an old woman, who she did not recognized. "Who-who are you?" she asked quietly.

The woman heard her and turned around. "My name is Aneko." She said with a wrinkled old smile. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Kagome. I'm pleased to meet you, Aneko-obasan."

"Well than Kagome child, how are you feeling?"

"I feel much better now" said Kagome with a small smile. "How long have I been out for?"

Before answering, the older woman handed the younger a small cuup. " Drink this Kagome. You have been overtired, without proper rest for a while. And as for your question, about three days."

The miko looked a bit surprised, but then, she looked around and realized that there was something missing from the picture. "Where are my friends?"

"Why child, they went off to chase a rumor that the Shichinintai were near. They left the little cat here to keep you safe. But surely, you do not intend to go out after them now in your weakened state?" asked the old lady with a sincere look of concern on her old, wrinkled face as she saw the younger priestess kick the blankets away and sit up.

Kagome nodded as she picked up all her stuff in a rush and called Kirara. "Thank you for everything you have done for me so far and for healing me, Aneko-obasan, but they're both my friends and I have to stop them!"

Aneko made a movement with her mouth as to ask what she meant by they're _both _her friends, but halfway through, she decided against it and nodded. "Then fare thee well, Kagome-chan, for I do not have doubts that you will be safe."

The miko bowed to the older lady, then turned to the fire cat. "Come on, Kirara. I've got to stop them from fighting!"

In no time, they had arrived at the site of where they were supposedly fighting. Kagome hopped off the twin tail and ran in through the gates of the castle, only to see that her friends were, sure enough, faced off against the Shichinintai. Also, she was just in time to see Koga getting blasted by one of Ginkotsu's cannons and thrown to the ground.

"Koga!" the miko shouted as she ran to him. "Koga! Are you alright?"

He looked up and when he realized it was her, he broke into a wide smile. "Kagome, it's you! And of course I'm okay, now that you're here."

"Oi wolf! Cut the crap and come here right now! Stop chickening out on the battle you useless flea bag!" yelled a voice she knew very well from across the castle grounds.

Inuyasha.

Of course, Kagome was not happy with the hanyou for calling her friend a useless flea bag, and also for not even asking if she was okay or not, after not seeing her for well over a month, so she looked up to yell at him.

But it just so happened that she saw the person Inuyasha was standing in front of. Her brown eyes met his. His cerulean eyes met hers.

Hers widened. There was no way. There was no way this could be him.

"Bankotsu..?…" she whispered.

Then he was gone.

"Bankotsu!"

AND this chappie is over. IF ANYONES CONFUSED PLEASE LET ME KNOW! Kagome thinks that the poison really worked and that Bankotsu's dead. BUt hes really not since Mukotsu made the poison in a hurry and most likely did something wrong, causing Bankotsu to live on instead of die. Renkotsu meanwhile, is trying to think of another plan to get rid of his leader. Finally, when Kagome runs in on the InuTachi and Shichinintai fighitng each other, she thinks she sees Bankotsu, even though she still believes him dead. As a side note, ANEKO means "elder sister"

THE NEXT CHAPPIE: The next chappie is gonna focus totally on Bankotsu and Kagome's love. Also, Kagome finds out for sure if her love is still alive and well. But then again, the course of true love never did run smooth. Another one of the trails is over, but will another one be placed in their way?

THE REVIEWS NEEDED FOR NEXT CHAPPIE, ONCE AGAIN IS 235-240 ish. You wanna know what happens rite? .

And thanks to everyone who alerted or fav and especially reviewed this story:

Sinistera of the Akatsuki

angie

Black Kurogari

deidaraluver206

kinky-kitsune

Kamiyoukai

hiya couldn't find a name

BlackWidow12

xxbluewingsxx

FoxylilRaven

mia1837

FuzzyPeachy

chocolate-mocha

Yuti-Chan

Keisha

history-is-not-always-pretty

Cupid's Tears

hxc muffin

AllyPhobia

Yuriko the SilverShadowKitsune

Taeniaea

kittyb78


	9. Silence

Wow guys. You know i just realized its been soooooo long since i updated? like....10 months? so i think its needed that i APOLOGIZE! im so sorry you guys T.T

Alright, so after all due apologies, i say have fun reading this chap!

Oh right. I need a new beta/editor....im not sure what happened to mine kinda......so if ur iintrested leave me a msg :D i know i can just go 2 the beta/ editor section but....its okay i think ill ask all you guys who read my story first :D

So now that everythings done and said

ENJOY!

* * *

_Silence_

_The pleasure of love lasts but a moment, but the pain of love lasts a lifetime._

Bankotsu had been hard at work, fighting against Inuyasha. Even though the Shichinintai leader would never have admitted it outright, he did think that Inuyasha had gotten quite good over the time that had passed since they last saw each other, which would have been about a month.

The rest of his team, the Shichinintai, had been hard at work as well, fighting against various members of the Inu-Tachi. It had been Suikotsu facing off against Sango, Renkotsu and Ginkotsu against Miroku, which was a challenge for the monk, and Jakotsu facing off against Kikyou. Of course, the effeminate man was not exactly what you call happy at being stuck fighting a woman, and the fact that Kagome had told him, and him only about what had happened when she _herself _died, you could say that Jakotsu was burning to snap the woman's neck in half at every chance he got.

No doubt, Bankotsu had been concentrating on his opponent, and of course his attention had not wavered, but even so, the Shichinintai leader could not help but notice that Kagome was missing. And that simple fact was clouding his heart with worry.

'_Where is Kagome?'_ He thought as he blocked a swing from the Tetsusiaga with his Banryuu._ 'Nothing bad could've happened to her right?' _He added on as he blocked another hit. Bankotsu could honestly say that at the moment, he seriously hated his imagination: '_What if she was attacked? Or poisoned like last time? What if…What if there was no one to save her? What if she's all alone and without a weapon? What if-'_

Kagome's form, lying still and motionless on the ground, blood all around her suddenly popped up into his mind. It was this fraction of weakness that caused him to get a small slash on his stomach from the ever persistent Inuyasha.

'_Damn it! Even when she's not here she's causing me pain. Kagome….She was already and will be again the death of me if I keep this up.'_

During a split second, when both Bankotsu's and the hanyou's weapons were down, as a mutual gesture of a break, he heard Inuyasha call out to a Kouga. What would you have done in the Shichinintai leader's position? Of course, turn around and laugh at the wolf.

But his laugh never came.

For standing there, just behind Kouga and looking at him with an expression of blank shock written all over her face, was Kagome. His eyes met her shocked chocolate orbs. And with that simple connection, he felt as though if he didn't get out of there now, he would break down and confess to her all over again.

And again.

And again.

"_Kagome, I wanted to tell you that-"_

_He lifted his other hand as well to join the other on her waist, also leaning in as close as possible to her without letting their noses touch._

"_I love you."_

How could she have such an impact on him? Why was it that when she looked into his eyes, he felt as though it was only the two of them and no one else, and the need to beg her to accept him, over and over again burned so furiously in his veins? What was this? He didn't beg! He was Bankotsu, the leader of the Shichinintai. He of all people shouldn't have to beg to get something he wanted.

"_Bankotsu?" she whispered._

"_Yeah?"_

_He was looking at her with such hope in his eyes. In fact, so much that she could barely bring herself to say the next words. But taking a deep breath and forcing herself to look away, she managed to blurt her answer out._

"_I-I can't..."_

Bankotsu saw her mouth move, her lips forming the sounds of his name. That's when he couldn't take anymore. Giving no signal to Inuyasha, giving no signal to Kagome, and giving no signal even to his friends, the Shichinintai leader turned around and ran as fast as he could out of the vicinity. In his wake, he left a trail of shocked people, and to add to that, a confused and slightly hurt Kagome yelling out his name.

But Bankotsu didn't turn around

It wasn't like he didn't hear her, he just wasn't ready to face her again.

'_Kagome…. Why are you making it so hard for me to accept the fact that you don't like me at all? Why? You know I'll still do anything for you. You know I still love you….You know…You know…'_

And, getting more and more unhappy as thought kept racing through his head, the young Shichinintai leader didn't stop running.

_When you are in love and you get hurt, it's like a cut... it will heal, but there will always be a scar._

Kagome stared.

Bankotsu, her love.

He had just been there, and now, all of a sudden, he was gone. And with him only a few seconds after, the band of seven.

'_Where did they go? Why did Bankotsu leave so quickly? Was it because he saw me? Was it because…'_

And the young miko shook her head to clear her thoughts, then focused her eyes and looked around: Sango, putting away her sword and picking up her boomerang while dusting herself off and calling to Kirara. Miroku was resting on the ground while holding a cloth up to his cut cheek, which was his only injury, and Kikyou, slowly putting her bow back on her shoulder and turning towards Inuyasha.

'_Had I really blanked out that long? I mean…my friends wouldn't be doing this right after the band of seven left...would they? I_….'

Speaking of Inuyasha, he was first to be left without an opponent and was currently staring dumbly around, the look on his face clearly telling her that he was going to blow up and yell at someone really soon.

Really soon.

3…Kagome blinked and sighed.

2…Said miko went over and helped Miroku stick a band aid on his slightly bleeding cheek.

1

"Where the hell did those bastards go!? It was the perfect chance to kill them all in a million years and you guys let them go! You -" the once hanyou raged but unfortunately, his rant was cut short when Sango walloped him on the head with her giant Hiraikotsu.

"Stuff it Inuyasha." The demon slayer casually stated "It was just as much your fault as it was ours."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to argue back, but Miroku cut him off. "Might I ask, Kagome-sama, where did you get that bow from?" as the curious monk looked carefully at the bow that was slung on her shoulder. The fact that he was sitting and she was kneeling and bandaging his cheek put him right at eye level with it.

"It really is a wonderful work of art."

Said miko's face turned red. '_Oh no! What should I tell them?! I can't just go up to them and say that Bankotsu gave it to me! Or…he really didn't give it to me. I just took it from him. Oh no Oh no Oh no…what am I supposed to say now? What should I say? What should I say?'_

"Well…um…." She started, but was interrupted rudely by none other then…

"Oh Kagome! You're back! Well then, I have a good question to ask ya and you better know the answer." Inuyasha said while running up to her.

_Oh! The nerve of that guy! I've been gone for so long and this is the first thing he says to me? Not even a "Have you been alright"?! Oh I'll show that guy… By the way what's a shiny circle of light doing in his back? It looks just like mine…Anyways, back on topic… But hey. He did help me avoid answering any embarrassing and awkward questions about my bow. So maybe I'll let him off easy…this time…'_

"Inuyasha! I've been gone for more than a month did you know that?!"

"Yes I did! And I've waited so long for you to come back so you can finally answer me! So Kagome, tell me-"

"And you don't even ask me how I am when I come back?!" Fire was burning in her eyes, threatening to spill over and annihilate everything around her.

"What? What does that got to do with anything?!"

""In-u-yash-a!" Kagome nearly yelled, her anger separating his name into separate accented syllables.

Said used-to-be-hanyou froze. As much as he really didn't want to apologize to Kagome, and as much as that would hurt his precious pride, he didn't want a face full of dirt. So he gathered up his dignity and did the one thing he could do.

"Alright, Alright! I'm _sorry_!" Inuyasha yelled while sticking his tongue out. "Now will you get on with it and answer the damn question?!"

"Fine! What's this question that only I can answer?"

"Turn me back into a hanyou."

Silence from the miko "…"

"Well?!"

Kagome looked at her hands, her index fingertips continuously moving from being together to being apart. "Well…you see Inuyasha….I um…have….he he…. no idea….how…"

This time, it was silence from the hanyou. "…"

"Um…uh …sorry?"

"…"

"I mean, I don't think I've even purified the demon out of someone before right? So it's only natural that I don't know how to reverse my spell"

And then all hell broke loose. "What!?"

_For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness_

"You alright o aniki?" a voice asked Bankotsu, snapping him out of his train of thoughts. Cracking one eye open with an annoyed expressions plastered on his face, he found that the person disturbing him was none other than…Renkotsu.

What the hell? Since when did _he _ask others if they were alright?

"Fuck off Renkotsu." The Shichinintai leader growled back. He was in no mood to talk at all. And especially not to this hella annoying brother…or not that annoying compared to some other ones, not mentioning any names…Jakotsu.

Said pyromaniac sighed. "O aniki, we all know this is about Kagome you know…And I didn't come here for nothing. I just wanted to tell you that she saw you in the clearing that morning. But if you don't want to hear it, I guess I will-"

Bankotsu ears had suddenly unblocked themselves when Kagome's name was mentioned and when Renkotsu said the she had been there, even his eyes had opened wider and he was finally paying his brother full attention. "No! Stay here and tell me everything. Don't leave." He quickly yelled out before the pyromaniac had a chance to leave.

His smug hint of a smile widened into a smirk. "Oh alright then, what did you want to know?"

"Tell me everything. And don't leave anything out no matter what."

'_Perfect…Now I can make this idiot think that Kagome really doesn't love him at all… so much so that they would never be together again. Of course…then Kagome will start to actually hate him because he'll treat her like shit 'cause he thinks she hates him. So then will she be more willing to work with me? Well…only one way to find out and this is better than not even trying at all…'_

Renkotsu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No…It's too hard to tell you without any sort of beginning…I guess you'll have to give me a place to begin or some sort of-"

The pyromaniac didn't have to finish his sentence before he was cut off by Bankotsu. "Was she there? In the clearing I mean."

"Oh yeah…Kagome was there…let's see…no…she didn't even cry…Yeah I remember now. I saw her there o aniki, she was in the clearing that you were sitting in. She just walked in and saw you…I mean, of course she saw you there, she even went up to you to see if you were still alive. And then after that she went into the rock that you were leaning on and just took the bow and was gone. Yeah…Just like that. Looks like she went back to Inuyasha doesn't it o aniki?"

Bankotsu was silent.

He was listening to Renkotsu with a realization that was slowly coming onto him. _'It…does look like it…Inuyasha that bastard….And Kagome…she wouldn't not care would she? Or…did she think I was still alive after all?'_ Forcing his lips open, he quietly asked: "Did she…care?"

The pyromaniac thought for another second before he answered. "Care? About what? You in general or the fact that she thought you were dead?"

"…Both"

"Let's see…Kagome was there….no she didn't care I don't think. I mean she didn't even cry. And as for you in general, she just touched your neck and touched your wrist and then turned to get the bow."

'_Renkotsu's probably shitting me right now….I should know that guy better than this…but…but…Kagome…She…she did reject me. Does she really hate me? Is this asshole really telling me the truth? _

"Was she…surprised at all?"

"Was she surprised that you were supposedly dead? Are you kidding me? Of course not. I mean…it's not like she really cared for you in the first place right o aniki?"

Silence from the young leader.

"Are you still that into her o aniki? After all that she made you do?"

Still, silence as Bankotsu tried to block out the image that was coming into his head, the second time that day

"_Kagome, I wanted to tell you that-"_

_He lifted his other hand as well to join the other on her waist, also leaning in as close as possible to her without letting their noses touch._

"_I love you."_

"_Bankotsu?" she whispered._

"_Yeah?"_

_He was looking at her with such hope in his eyes. In fact, so much that she could barely bring herself to say the next words. But taking a deep breath and forcing herself to look away, she managed to blurt her answer out._

"_I-I can't..."_

And with that image, came a thought, and a sudden painful realization. '_Kagome….You…you…really don't like me do you? Renkotsu's telling the truth isn't he?'_

_If you love me, let me know. If not, please gently let me go _

Humming a tune that Kagome had taught him once upon a time late at night when they both couldn't fall asleep due to the sugar rush they were on, (for they had both eaten out Kagome's stash of candy with much persuasion on his part), Jakotsu walked merrily into the cave that the Shichinintai were currently residing in, while waiting for more orders from Naraku. True, that after Kagome joined, they had been a little more cautious about the evil hanyou, but still, it was so far so good.

The first thing that the slasher noticed when he entered was Bankotsu, leaning up against one side of the cave with his arms crossed and his eyes shut to make a sort of painful grimace on his face. Jakotsu knew he was mad, but he wasn't surprised at all. The Shichinintai leader had been angry and doing a lot of thinking these days, especially after the day they had seen Kagome when fighting against the Inu-Tachi.

"Hey o aniki? What's wrong?" asked Jakotsu playfully, even though he noticed his younger brother's stormy mood, while plopping himself down beside said leader. "And don't say nothing because I can tell there's something wrong with you."

Bankotsu opened one eye and growled while the slasher pulled out a shell of rouge from his kimono. "Stuff it Jakotsu. Can't you tell that I really don't wanna talk about it?"

"Hm, and why not?"

"Because." The Shichinintai leader's eyelid slammed shut again, blocking his view of the effeminate man sitting in front of him. Who was currently dipping his finger in the paint and slowly moving it to his lips, I might add.

"Because what?" '_Why is Bankotsu no o aniki acting like this?'_

"Because I told you I don't wanna." His voice was steadily growing louder and more forceful. Shame that Jakotsu didn't take the hint to back off.

"And why not?"

"_Because_" Bankotsu was near shouting now, and he was going to if Jakotsu pushed him any further and made him more angry and frustrated than he already was.

"O aniki. Please just tell me what's wrong."

He gritted his teeth. "Nothing. Is. Wrong."

"Why won't you just tell me and get it off your chest Bankotsu? Just like I told you about Inuyasha!" asked Jakotsu with a bit of childishness showing when he made the comment about Inuyasha, but it was his leader's reaction to that comment that helped him figure out what was up.

Bankotsu's eyes snapped opened.

'_Inuyasha.'_

Inuyasha who held the heart of the woman who held his heart.

Inuyasha who had two timed her.

Inuyasha who he hated.

Inuyasha who, he would never admit out loud, he was jealous of. Inuyasha who was loved by…Kagome.

Unfortunately for him, the slasher noticed everything that his face was showing. And also very unfortunate, Jakotsu was being smart that day and put two and two together to figure it all out. "O aniki…You… This is about imouto isn't it? It's about Kagome right?"

'_Kagome…'_

Bankotsu couldn't take it any longer. He really didn't mean to shout at his favorite brother. He really didn't, but it was at that moment, he felt too hurt, too upset, and too angry to care. And it was all triggered by just mentioning a person who was closely connected to the woman he loved.

"Just shut the fuck up and go away Jakotsu!" he yelled swinging around to glare at said slasher. "I just told you I don't wanna talk about it. And I don't wanna see you right now either! Can you not take a hint and _leave me alone_?!"

Jakotsu was shocked. His hand slipped, and the lipstick he was-- or used to be applying ended up all around his mouth. He had never expected his o aniki to have such a big reaction to such a simple comment, even if it _was_ about Kagome. The slasher simply had no comment to make back to Bankotsu at the moment and therefore obeyed part of his leader's command and stayed quiet. But he did not leave.

The two Shichinintai stayed like that for a while, long enough for Jakotsu to start getting bored, for he had long since fixed and finished applying his makeup, but short enough that Bankotsu was still deep in thought and swimming in his pit of unhappiness. So, the slasher, being who he was, decided to risk it all and break the silence:

"Tell me the truth o aniki? Do you still love her? Do you miss her?"

Bankotsu's eyes snapped open again. Snippets of the conversation with Renkotsu came back into his head, even though he tried with all his might to block them out.

'_Kagome was there….she didn't even cry…yeah just took the bow and was gone…looks like she went back to Inuyasha doesn't it o aniki?'_

"I do _not_ love her and I as sure as hell do _not _miss her!" he yelled.

"Aw, O aniki! Stop lying to yourself. You know you still love imouto with all your heart. Why are you denying it now?" whined Jakotsu, tugging on his leader's braid.

"Why the hell are you asking me if you're not gonna believe the answer I give you?!" Bankotsu shouted back at the third in command.

'_Kagome…I have to hate her. Come on Bankotsu, think of everything she's done and made you do. You died because of her and she still doesn't give a rat's ass.'_

"Because I know it's not the truth and that you're lying to yourself!"

"I'm not lying to myself!" '_But then again… why does my heart hurt so much?'_

"You are!"

"I am _not_!"

"Stop lying!"

"I can't stop doing something that I'm not even doing!"

'_She's gone back to Inuyasha now. She's always liked him way above you…yes Bankotsu, that's it…hate her…yes…you don't love her at all...you hate her.'_

"But you _are_ doing it! You_ know_ you love Kagome!"

"I don't _love _her Jakotsu and I never have! Now go away and _leave me alone_!"

'_It's for your own good Bankotsu…now say it, say it out loud!"_

"Hmph, fine! Have it your way then!"

And with that Jakotsu, the Shichinintai slasher, jumped up and pivoted around on his heel. With a string of mutterings and curses, he stomped nosily out of the cave. Maybe it was just that his stomping wasn't loud enough, or his mutterings weren't strong enough, but he did manage to hear something come out of Bankotsu's mouth before he had completely left the cave. He was not surprised that his o aniki would say something like that at a time like this, but he was surprised by the fact that Bankotsu's face was absolutely emotionless.

"I hate you Kagome. Everything about you."

Jakotsu shook his head. '_He's telling me he hates imouto but I'm just thinking that he misses her more than he realizes.'_

_Falling in love is awfully simple, but falling out of love is simply awful._

Not so far away, at the core of Mount Hakurei, another someone was also doing some fuming. He had such a long list of things that he could be mad about. It could be that he had told Kagura specifically that she was supposed to be guarding the entrance to the sacred mountain and the areas around it.

And she had failed.

Or it could be that he could see the Shichinintai and the damn miko becoming closer than he had anticipated. He had counted on the band of seven to give her a hard time, and work her and humiliate her to no end.

But that hadn't turned out right either.

The one thing that he _could _say had worked out quite nicely, was imbedding the orb into the once upon a time hanyou, Inuyasha. That had worked so much easier than anticipated and it was one of the only things that was keeping his anger at bay right then. That had worked like a charm. Three days ago, the Inu-Tachi had still been Kagome-less as they wandered in search of her. Inuyasha had sensed his presence and ran off with Kikyou towards him. Of course, Inuyasha didn't know that Kikyou was working with him, and with no effort at all, the orb was in his back.

Simple as that.

Now all he needed was the perfect time to put his pair of orbs to use. And then…

All would be perfect

But then he sighed.

No.

He couldn't celebrate anything right now. He still had plenty of work that needed to be done before he could start dropping his defenses.

"Kohaku" Naraku turned around and spoke in his quiet, commanding voice to the young demon slayer. "You are to patrol the base of this mountain, as Kagura was unable to do so. While you, Kagura are to try and find Inuyasha's group and decimate them which will save Kohaku some work and regain my trust in you."

"But I never-" started the wind witch.

"Quiet Kagura. Do not forget what I can do to you at any time." Naraku said as his fingers moved slightly, in a motion that indicated squeezing a heart. And with that subtle movement, a few moments of silence fell on the cave.

"And lastly, Kanna." The evil hanyou started once again, "At all costs, protect this orb." The eerie child accepted the orb that her master gave her while he started to fade away into the darkness, but no before one last command. "Let no one take possession of it."

"But why?" Kagura asked impatiently.

And as if she had not asked, there was no answer except for an echo of his fading command.

"Let no one…"

_Why do people have to lose things to find out what they really mean?_

It was early morning, the Inu-Tachi were currently camping out in a small abandoned hut they had found in the forest. Of course, it was not the best that they could've hoped for, but it was much better than nothing.

Even if there was no blankets or even a futon in the hut.

Even if there was a suspicious scurrying sound coming from one of it's poorly lit corners.

At least they had a roof over their heads.

Kagome, Shippou and Sango were all snuggled up against Kirara in her big form, trying to get whatever heat they could for it was a pretty cool morning. Miroku, Inuyasha and Kikyou were not so lucky; the hanyou and priestess forced to curl up with one another and the monk forced to huddle in one of the corners that didn't have any odd noises coming from it. All of them were fast asleep, even Inuyasha for he was _still_ a human and therefore, tired at the same rate as the others.

But not for long.

Kagome, now also an undead priestess opened her warm chocolate eyes. She had been having a very strange dream, but she couldn't remember exactly what it had been about. It was one of those kinds of dreams that slipped away faster and faster the harder and harder you tried to grasp at them. However, one of the things that she _could _remember was that she felt very happy, protected and comforted and then all of a sudden, she had felt lonely, despairing and cold. And…the people that had been with her when she had felt so contented…it had not been the Inu-Tachi…but the Shichinintai.

The miko slowly lifted herself from Kirara's side and rubbed her eyes. It was early in the morning, as mentioned before, but she wasn't tired at all. On the contrary, she was wide awake with no more chance of going back to sleep than the Inu-Tachi going to her era. So, she stood up and walked over to one of the corners of the hut, where all of the weapons were laid. The bow and quiver that Bankotsu had made for her were picked up, and slung over her shoulders; the cloak that they had gotten for her in the last village was put over her back.

Quietly, without a sound, Kagome slipped out of the hut.

She really had no destination in mind right then, so she just let her feet take her anywhere. She didn't really care where she ended up; she just wanted a place where she could think without the interference of her friends. Not that it wasn't a good thing she was with them again, it just got on her nerves sometimes even though she knew they had good intentions.

Even though she couldn't remember it, this path was not a new path to Kagome. She had traveled here once before, when she was out cold and unconscious. If she had been conscious at the time, she would've recognized the dried up waterfall, the poison ivy that grew in abundance along the path, and the fact that the path was going up a mountain.

She kept ascending and ascending, while thinking.

'_Miroku and Sango really do look happy together. I think they seem closer than I remember; I have to make a note to ask Sango 'bout that a little later._ _And Shippou. He must've grown a few good inches in the month that I've been away from them. Maybe it's his growth spurt time... Nah, too early maybe in a couple good years._

Kagome was now at a clearing.

A clearing with a rock in the middle.

A clearing with cherry blossoms littering the ground.

A clearing…That she remembered well…

"_Kagome, I wanted to tell you that-"_

_He lifted his other hand to join the other on her waist, also leaning in as close as possible to her without letting their noses touch._

"_I love you."_

She brushed her fingers along the cool surface of the rock, and then pivoted around to sit on it. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back, towards the never-ending sky and continued to think.

'_Inuyasha…this is the first and last time I'll say this, out loud or inside my head.'_

"I love you with all my heart, Inuyasha."

'_I...I really do. But I think you made your choice pretty clear to me when we were in a life or death situation, and still, you chose Kikyou over me. Yes, I know. I can't compare to her, but it doesn't mean that it didn't hurt Inuyasha.'_

Kagome sighed, but didn't break off on her thoughts.

'_I have to give up on you. The moment I came back to life, my first thought was of you, then of the rest of our group after. But it was at that moment that I realized you had my incarnation with you now, and that you really didn't need me anymore. So I made up my mind that I would not love you anymore; that I would give myself a chance to fall in love with a guy who will love me back for who I am, and not for my powers, but truly for me.'_

She opened her eyes again and brushed away the single tear that was slowly making its way down her cheek.

'_No…I won't cry for you again, Inuyasha. I will still be your friend, but I will not think of you as anymore than friend._

'_So, I wish you all the best with Kikyou, Inuyasha. I'll be happy for you two so that when I find true love as well, you two can be happy for me. Oh and also I think I've found-'_

"What are you doing here Kagome?" a voice rudely interrupted her train of thoughts. It was a voice filled with strength that only someone alive and warm could have, but to contradict, it was hinted with the icy cold edge that only an uncaring and unloving person could have. Startled, she jumped and turned around, only to be faced with the very guy that thought of her the way she used to think of Inuyasha.

Even though _she _didn't quite know that.

"Bankotsu…" she breathed.

Once again, his cerulean eyes met hers, as her chocolate eyes met his. There were no words spoken between them, but in their hearts, both of them were talking silently to each other, trying to convey the emotions that they were feeling at the moment.

'_Bankotsu, it's you! You're really alive! I thought I was imagining things when I saw you at the castle! How have you been?'_

'_**Kagome…my love…'**_

'_You know Bankotsu, now that I've come to terms with my feelings, I just want to apologize for everything, I hope that we can start all over again'_

'_**Kagome, I forced myself to hate you, but seeing you again…and we're alone together…this is so perfect I could spend the rest of my life like this. Right here.'**_

'_Will you give me the chance Bankotsu? Will you let me start all over again with you?'_

'_**Kagome, I swear on my life, my halberd and my band's life that this is the last time I will think this. I love you Kagome. I honestly do.'**_

'_And this time Bankotsu, when you tell me you love me, I'll tell you that I love you too.'_

'_**I understand that you can't love me when you love that damn bastard InuTrasha. That's why I have to make myself hate you because there's no point in hurting myself any further for nothing. I have to give up on you. You proved that you loved him to me well enough when you did all those things that Renkotsu told me about.'**_

'_I hope you aren't mad that I took the bow Bankotsu. And I hope you're not mad that I haven't read your note yet. I want to read it when I know you still love me too.'_

'_**So, Kagome I have to do what I'm about to. I've made my decision and I can't change my mind now even though it's gonna break my heart.'**_

'_Bankotsu, I need to tell you. If I don't I'll be left wondering for the rest of my life.'_

'_**I never fell in love with anyone before you, and I promise I never will again. That's why I'll go back to being an emotionless mercenary, because in doing that, I know you'll come to hate me too. That's what I want.'**_

'_And I can't stand being left like that.'_

'_**And I can't regret it after, no matter how much it hurts.' **_

"What are you doing here?" Bankotsu finally said out loud, repeating the question he had asked just a few moments earlier.

The way that he looked at her was starting to creep her out slightly. And not in the perverted way, but in a way that made her feel as if he would jump and kill her at any given moment. It was a look on his face that had never been directed at her, but she was finally feeling the brunt of it this time. She stammered for a reply. "Oh I was um, just here…you know…thinking…and uh…yeah just thinking…"

"Don't lie to me Kagome." '_That's right. Don't even ask me how I am, or why I'm still alive. Damn it Ka- You stupid bitch!'_

"But I'm not lying to you." '_Don't you not trust me anymore Bankotsu?'_

"Whatever." The young Shichinintai came and joined her in the middle of the clearing, but not sitting on the rock but choosing to stand a few feet away from it instead. "But get the hell outta here right now. I came to this place to think and I don't want any distractions." '_Looks like everything Renkotsu said is getting proven true right now…'_

Her jaw dropped open slightly.

'_What's happened to Bankotsu? How come he's changed so much since I last saw him? He seems like…the guy from the stories that the villagers told us back then, and not the guy that I've come to know in the past few months' _

She was unable to find her voice for a while, but when she finally regained it, she shouted out at her love…slowly turning into dislike. "And I'm supposed to be a distraction?"

With no hesitation, he answered her. "You are." '_Kagome, Damn it! I hate my imagination! I can just picture her there. What Renkotsu was saying…_ _Oh yeah "I saw he there o aniki… She was in the clearing that you were sitting in."'_

"What's wrong with you?

"Does it look like something's wrong with me?"

"_Of course she saw you, she even went up to you to see if you were still alive."_

"Of course it does. I mean, you…are so much more mean and rude. You're like the guy from the Shichinintai stories that the villager told us about. You don't feel like the guy that I've fallen in-"

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"_Was she surprised that you were supposedly dead? Are you kidding me? Of course not. I mean, it's not like she really cared for you in the first place, right o aniki?"_

"There is Bankotsu! Please just tell me what's bugging you!"

"Leave me alone"

'_No wonder she and Jakotsu are such good friends. She feels like a second Jakotsu right now.'_

"There's nothing wrong with me, and even if there was, I wouldn't tell you about it anyways."

"Do you honestly think that if you don't talk about it, it'll just go away by itself?"

"Yes. And you better get outta here right now! You're really starting to piss me off, you know that?!"

"Sheesh! You are _just _like Inuyasha! Why are the guys in the feudal era such idiots?!"

"You're comparing me to _that_ bastard?"

"Yes I am. Something wrong with that Bankotsu?"

"Never compare me to him. He's not-"

"I will if I want to! You guys are both brainless idiots who think power is everything and that everything should be settled the caveman way: with a fight! But I'll admit there _are _things that are different about you two!"

"Oh yeah? And what would they be, I'm _so_ interested to hear."

"Even though he caused my death, I can say that Inuyasha is loads better than you, in _every single way_!"

"Seriously, in every single way? And how strong is your precious 'Trasha now? He's a human like us now." He shouted at her, even now, mostly out of jealousy at hearing her defend him like that.

"I bet he can't even protect himself now, let alone anyone else with his wimpy rusted trash of sword!"

"You're just saying that because you're jealous of Inuyasha!"

'_Bankotsu you've changed way too much…I feel like I really hate you right now!'_

"Maybe that's why you left that time in the castle courtyard! Because you knew you were no match against-"

"You dare talk to me like that?" he growled low in his throat, his eyes sparkling with the anger that was starting to build up. And it was real.

"What? I shouldn't? You think you're so great just because you killed so many people and that you're the _great_ Shichinintai leader? You think I should bow down and respect you just because of your infamous reputation. You-"

"Yeah I do! And for your information, this '_great Shichinintai leader' _can snap your pretty neck in half any old time!"

"Like you would!" '_Come on Bankotsu. Don't say that you really would...'_

"You wanna bet?"

"Huh, you wouldn't do it"

'_Bankotsu…'_

"Oh really? And why '_great miko Kagome _would' you ask me a question if you weren't gonna believe the answer I give you?"

"Because I know you better than that! Or I thought I did!" yelled Kagome, close to tears now.

"I know that only a little while back, you were in love with me! And when I finally see you again right now, in this clearing, I just wanted to tell you that you are the person, and not Inuyasha that I've fallen-"

"I didn't come here to listen to what you have to say! And I don't wanna hear it now either! Just go back to your pretty 'Trasha and leave me the hell alone if you-"

"Bankotsu! You really are a big stupid jerk you know that? Would you calm down for a moment and listen to what I have to say? Sheesh. You don't make any sense at all! First being all calm and cool, the all of a sudden blowing up on me. What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem. You do."

"What? That's just-"

"And it's not like you make any sense"

"Of course I do!"

"Okay, so then if I really am such a big jerk and so stupid, then why the hell are you still standing here arguing with me?"

Even now at a moment like this, there was no hesitation in her voice. "Because I wanted to tell you I love you too!"

Silence fell.

And silence reigned until he broke it with his stammer. "…What!?"

"I love you too you big idiot!"

And he went silent for another moment, in which a thousand thoughts were running through his head.

'_She loves me too…Finally. It's what I've wanted so much to hear for so long, since Suikotsu made me realize that I…No! I can't love her! I have to hate her because she hates me too and there's no point in hurting myself any longer…But she just said…Can I trust her word that she loves me now? Can I, or not? But Renkotsu; he was telling me the truth back in the cave wasn't he? Kagome…she really did that when she thought I was dead right? I…I still love her so much. No! I can't think that….I can't….I….'_

"Bankotsu? You okay?"

It was in that instant, he quickly made his choice. "You know what? Why the hell are you saying and asking me anything at a time like this?"

Kagome was, as an understatement, rendered speechless. She had no idea what caused the sudden shifts in Bankotsu's mood all this whole time, and it was really confusing and hurting her.

Bankotsu didn't stop.

"No answer Kagome? So when I tell you that I love you too you can have another chance to throw it all back in my face?

"So that you can hope that I'm still depressed and a hopeless romantic for you?"

"No that's not-"

"Or maybe then you can add my name to the long list of guys that you've managed to seduce and do anything for you? Or do you wish that I really was dead again, so you don't have to deal with me anymore?"

Kagome thought this was getting a bit ridiculous.

Really.

"Well maybe I'm asking because I just wanted to know if you were alright! And maybe I confessed to you because I wanted to know if-"

"Then you're stupider than I thought! It's not like I wanted you in the first place! Go back and fuck your precious InuTrasha for all I care! Hell go and fuck all the guys in Japan if that makes you happy!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kagome screamed back at him, angry tears burning in her eyes.

"Can't you understand bitch? I never want to see you again!" he yelled with much more hate in his voice than he actually felt in his heart for her, but being caught in the moment, he didn't really care. The young Shichinintai raised his hand.

He drew it back.

Her face controlled with anger and surprise.

He brought it down.

Her eyes widened. '_He's going to-_

_**Smack**_

_-hit me…'_

Bankotsu really was hurt and jealous right then, so even though he was so mad and caught up in his feelings, he couldn't bring himself to hit her with strength any harder than this, but it was still enough to leave an ugly bruising mark on her otherwise flawless skin and throw her to the ground.

"Leave now and never come back!" he shouted again, then lowering his voice, added a threat. "Or I will not hesitate to harm you again."

What would you have done in Kagome's position?

What could you have done?

So she did the only thing that could be done at that moment in time.

She did what seemed most logical even though she was breaking her heart into thousands and thousands of pieces along the way.

As she got up, holding her purple, swollen cheek, she could only let the tears roll down her face as she turned and walked away.

Away from the clearing that meant so much to these young lovers.

And away from the only hope they every had in their hearts these past 2 weeks of making up.

Step.

Slowly and painfully, she walked away from where her heart was left.

Step.

Slowly and painfully, she walked out of his life.

If only…

If only she had turned around, she would have seen the regret and love burning in his eyes, glossy with unshed tears. If only he had called out her name once more, he would have seen the pain and hurt in hers, glossy with the tears that poured down her stinging face.

And if only, the wind hadn't been so loud overhead, moaning along with their pain, he would have heard her whisper, right before she disappeared out of his sight.

"Goodbye, Bankotsu... Forever…"

ANDDDDDDD CUT! there you go:D theres the chapter! Bankotsu was unsure about himself and Kagome, but after his talk with Renkotsu, he thinks that she really truly doesnt like him. ANd the cherry on top is his talk with Jakotsu, where he decides he wont like her again except Jakotsu knows the truth.....or thinks he does. THen, Bankotsu and Kagome have their final talk in which he decides to break everything with her. Its over for the two lovers.

NEXT CHAPTER: three new people...or should i say characters join the story and just adds to the love....square? but then again, maybe another person was just what Bankotsu and Kagome needed to realize a few things.


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